Lecce (8-8-20) at Udinese (11-9-16)
Serie A Soccer: Wednesday July 29, 2020 at 1:30 PM (Dacia Arena)
The Line: Udinese +130 / Draw +270 / Lecce +195 -- O/U: 3 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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Udinese and Lecce duke it out in Serie A soccer action from the Dacia Arena on Wednesday afternoon.
Udinese comes into this match in 13th place on the heels of back-to-back wins to get up to 11 wins, 9 draws and 16 losses following a 1-0 win over Cagliari last time out. In the win over Cagliari, Stefano Okaka gave Udinese the lead in the 2nd minute of play and they’d ride that lead into the half. Cagliari would own 62% possession in the second half with 10 attempts at goal and 5 shots on target compared to Udinese’s 4 goal attempts and two shots on target. In the end, Udinese would ride the goal from Okaka all the way to the finish line to pick up the win. Kevin Lasagna leads Udinese in scoring with 10 goals while Rodrigo de Paul and the aforementioned Okaka each have 7 goals. Seko Fofana leads Udinese in assists with 7 helpers this season. Juan Agustin is Udinese’s top goalkeeper, conceding 1.22 goals per 90 minutes with 13 clean sheets in 36 league appearances this season.
Lecce on the other hand, sit in 18th position on 32 points with a record of 8 wins, 8 draws and 20 losses following a 3-2 loss to Bologna in their last match. In the loss to Bologna, Lecce fell behind in the 2nd minute and all of a sudden were 2-0 down in the 5th minute. Marco Mancosu pulled one back for Lecce in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, and Filippo Falco tied the game at two for Lecce in the 66th. We looked headed for a score draw, but Bologna had other ideas as they scored in the 3rd minute of second-half stoppage time, putting a huge dent in Lecce’s hopes for Serie A survival. Mancosu leads Lecce in scoring with 13 goals while Gianluca Lapaduia has 9 goals. The aforementioned Falco and Jacopo Petriccione each have a team-high 5 assists on the year. Gabriel Vasconelos is Lecce’s top goalkeeper, conceding 2.17 goals per 90 minutes with 2 clean sheets in 32 league appearances this season.
This is a big game for Lecce as a loss ends their chances of staying up in Serie A for another year. With that said, Lecce had a chance to keep pace and stay one point behind, but Lecce blew their shot against Bologna last time out and their backs are truly up against the wall here. Udinese didn’t fall flat after their win against Juventus and it’s nice to see them still trying despite only having pride to play for at this point. I’ll side with Udinese at home in this one.
Chris’s Pick Udinese ML +130
AUTHOR: Chris Ruffolo
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