Cagliari vs Udinese preview - Udinese set for dizzy heights
Posted Sunday, September 25, 2011 by PA
Udinese will be bidding to go clear at the top of the Serie A standings when they take on Cagliari in Sardinia.
Francesco Guidolin's men have made a convincing start to the season with wins against Lecce and Fiorentina before holding defending champions AC Milan to a 1-1 home draw in midweek.
Their positive run has seen Udinese go level on seven points with Juventus and Genoa at the top of Serie A.
"We didn't expect to be as competitive as we are from the start of the campaign," Udinese president Giampaolo Pozzo said.
"We lost important players this summer like (Gokhan) Inler (joined Napoli) and (Alexis) Sanchez (moved to Barcelona) but we have interesting young players that little by little are giving us satisfaction.
"We have room for improvement but we must be patient and give time for these players to develop."
Guidolin is set to name an unchanged side from the team that drew at Milan.
Cagliari coach Massimo Ficcadenti wants his side to show more focus after giving away two goals in the first 14 minutes against Palermo on Wednesday.
The Sardinians battled back in the second half but came up short and lost 3-2.
That defeat was Cagliari's first of the campaign.
"We made too many mistakes early on," Ficcadenti said. "May that be a lesson to my players.
"Against Udinese, we must show the same determination that we displayed in the second half against Palermo.
"My team fought hard and never stopped believing that a comeback was possible."
Thiago Ribeiro will replace injured striker Moestafa el Kabir in Cagliari's attack.
The hosts face a challenge this weekend with Udinese having the best defence in the competition with just one goal given away.
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