AC MILAN v UDINESE: FUN FACTS

The Rossoneri take to the field tomorrow at San Siro at 18:30 CEST, aiming for the best possible start to the championship with the Tricolour on their chests. This week’s visitors are Sottil’s Udinese: both of last season’s encounters with the Friulians ended in 1-1 draws. On the eve of this season’s opening fixture, here are some interesting facts and stats on AC Milan v Udinese:

A FORTRESS CALLED SAN SIRO
The Rossoneri's Serie A 2022/23 gets underway at San Siro. AC Milan are unbeaten in 14 of the last 15 home games against Udinese in Serie A (8W, 6D),  scoring 31 goals in the process (2.1 average goals per match). Udinese have won 5 of the 47 total fixtures with AC Milan in Serie A. Among all the teams they have played at least 20 times away from home in the competition, Friuli have only managed fewer successes against Napoli (four). AC Milan have kept a clean sheet in the last five matches at San Siro in the competition, the last time they have managed six clean sheets in a row at home in the Serie A occurred between April and November in 2002 with Carlo Ancelotti as manager. 

PARITY IN THE PAST                                                                                                                                                                                                               AC Milan is the side that Udinese have drawn the most Serie A matches against: 36 from 94, with 41 Rossoneri victories and 17 to the Friulians. More specifically, all of the last three league contests between the two teams have ended in a draw (all 1-1) and only between 1992 and 1994 has this game produced a sequence of ties longer in the top flight (four). Stefano Pioli has drawn 8 of 21 matches against Udinese as a Serie A coach (8W, 5L), only against Sampdoria has he drawn more (nine) in the competition. 

DEFENSIVE FOCUS
In 2022 AC Milan is both the team that has conceded the least number of goals (9 in 19 matches) across the top 5 European leagues as well as the team that has recorded the most clean sheets (12). Among the keepers with more than 10 appearances in the top 5 leagues 2021/22, Mike Maignan has the highest save percentage (79.4%). 

THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE OPENER
AC Milan have not drawn a single one of their last 10 season openers in the Serie A (5W, 5L), the last stalemate from the first match of the new season dates back to 2011/12 (2-2 vs Lazio). Parity reigns in the five meetings between Milan and Udinese in the opening game of the Serie A: a win for each side (Rossoneri victory in 1950 and the Friulians in 2019) and three draws.

SPECIAL OCCASIONS                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Ante Rebić's first two goals in an AC Milan shirt in the Serie A were scored against Udinese: a brace at San Siro on 19 January 2020. After the successes against Bologna in 2020/21 and Sampdoria in 2021/22, the Rossoneri could win three successive matches in the opening game of the Serie A for the first time since the 1987-1996 period (10 in that case).

THE ART OF THE GOAL
AC Milan have made 102 goals in home games against Udinese in Serie A, exactly double the Friulian tally in these matches (51). Udinese (13) and Milan (11) are two of the top three clubs to have scored goals from outside the box in the last Serie A campaign. 

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