Fiorentina midfielder Josip Ilicic. (Photo : Getty Images)
Struggling team Udinese Calcio (9-16-8, 35 points) is fighting for its life near the bottom of the standings to stay away from relegation next season. The team will face top five squad ACF Fiorentina (17-8-8, 59 points), who had also been struggling in their recent games, at the Dacia Arena on April 20th, Wednesday.
Udinese has only won once in their last six outings, the infamous 3-1 beating they gave second-running team Napoli which led to the four-game ban of this season's top goalscorer Gonzalo Higuaín.
Other than that, they had been winless and so the team has dropped to fifth from the last place in the current league table, precariously five points above the bottom three relegation zone with five matchday left in the season.
Their most recent game was a goalless draw with middling squad Chievo also at their home field of Dacia Arena last Sunday as the two teams were a man down late in the match, as per SkySports.
With both teams' defenses holding each other out the whole game, the Zebrette's Brazilian defender Felipe was booked with a straight red card at the 77th for violent conduct. Eight minutes later, Chievo forward Riccardo Meggiorini was also shown a direct red for a hard foul as the competitors finished the match sharing a point in the overall standings.
Meanwhile, Fiorentina finally snapped a six-game winless spell by convincingly beating seventh-placed squad Sassuolo, 3-1, at their home ground of Stadio Artemio Franchi last Sunday, as reported by Forza Italian Football.
Team captain Gonzalo Rodriguez netted the opening goal of the match at the 10th minute to give Paulo Sousa's boys the early lead.
Sassuolo forward Domenico Berardi was able to equalize at the 55th minute before Viola winger Josip Ilicic gave the lead back to his team two minutes later.
An own goal from goalkeeper Andrea Consigli with seven minutes left in the match sealed the victory for the hosts to finally win one after six winless weeks.
The Lilies are now at the fifth spot of the league table, six points behind Roma for the last Champions League berth with only five games left before the season ends.
The predicted result is a 2-0 win for Fiorentina.
Udinese starting lineup (3-5-2 formation): Karnezis; Wague, Danilo, Domizzi; Widmer, Agyemang-Badu, Kuzmanovic, Fernandes, Pasquale; Zapata, Thereau
Fiorentina starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Tatarusanu; Tomovic, Gonzalo, Roncaglia, Alonso; Vecino, Badelj; Tello, Ilicic, Valero; Kalinic
