Just two places and five points separate both Genoa and Udinese in the Serie A table ahead of their clash at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Friday night.
The hosts are in 12th after losing 1-0 at Juventus last time out, their first defeat in four in the league. At home, Genoa are on a much better run, as they are undefeated at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris since before Christmas, where they lost 2-1 to Napoli.
Udinese have lost their previous two Serie A games, narrowly losing out to league leaders Inter Milan 2-1 at San Siro last time out. They are winless in two away matches, with their last victory on their travels coming in a 1-0 win at Lecce in February.
Genoa have the better of Udinese in recent encounters, as they have won the last two and are unbeaten in six meetings. However, with the visitors in a better place in the table, calls of a home win may not be as straightforward.
How the bookies view it: Genoa slight favourites
Genoa are slight 7/5 favourites with BoyleSports to win this one, while a draw is priced at 19/10 and a Udinese victory at 2/1 with the same bookmaker.
Recent head-to-head: Genoa victorious on travels
In December, Genoa emerged as 2-0 victors at Udinese in the reverse fixture, with Andrea Pinamonti giving them an early lead before a Lautaro Giannetti own goal in the second half sealed the points.
Pinamonti has scored more goals against Udinese (four) than any other team in his career apart from Roma (five), and is Genoa's top scorer in Serie A with eight goals so far this season. Back him to score anytime at 9/4 with BoyleSports.
The previous encounter also saw Isaak Toure sent off for Udinese after just four minutes, while a further five yellow cards were dished out. That bad blood could spill into Friday's clash, and Uni Bet are offering 27/25 odds for Over 28.5 fouls in the match.
Players to watch: Battle of the Italian hitmen
Pinamonti is undoubtedly Genoa's biggest goal threat, and a dry spell of no goals over his last five matches will motivate the Italian striker even more to find the net.
With no Florian Thauvin or Alexis Sanchez available, Udinese will be relying on another Italian striker in Lorenzo Lucca for goals. Indeed, he is Udinese's top scorer in Serie A with 10 goals so far this season.
Predicted lineups
Mattia Bani, Vitinha and Maxwel Cornet are all expected to be missing for Genoa through injury. Caleb Ekuban has returned to full fitness though in a positive for the hosts.
As well as Thauvin and Sanchez, Roberto Sava and Toure are also missing for Udinese through injury.
Genoa: Leali, Sabelli, De Winter, Vasquez, Matturro, Onana, Frendrup, Zanoli, Masini, Miretti, Pinamonti.
Udinese: Okoye, Kristensen, Bijol, Solet, Ehizibue, Lovric, Karlstrom, Atta, Kamara, Ekkelenkamp, Lucca.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given Genoa's six-game unbeaten streak against Udinese, backing them to get a positive result seems smart. BoyleSports are offering 4/11 Double Chance odds of a Genoa win or draw.
This Serie A match between Genoa and Udinese will be played on and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Genoa vs Udinese prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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