Pasquale Marino’s Udinese will look to heap more misery on Tottenham Hotspur when they host Juande Ramos’ side in a Group D UEFA Cup fixture on Thursday night. Udinese, who are currently second in the Serie A, and have never lost at home in the Italian league this season, beat Borussia Dortmund on penalties to get to the group stages.
In their weekend fixture, Udinese bounced back with second half goals from Alexis Sanchez and Gaetano D’Agostino to draw 2-2 with Lecce. The result put Udinese temporarily on top of the Serie A, but Inter reclaimed their first spot by demolishing Roma 4-0.
Tottenham Hotspur have had their worst ever start to a league season, picking up two points from eight games. On Sunday, they not only lost to promoted Stoke, but had Michael Dawson and Gareth Bale sent off. Vedran Corluka had to be stretchered off, and Spurs did not even remotely like a side challenging the top four. Everything seems to be going wrong for them, and a win at Udinese will obviously do them a world of good. A loss, well- the consequences of a loss need not be elaborated.
The pressure is on Ramos
Corluka and Pavyluchenko will be cup tied, which restricts Ramos’ options further. Reports in the press said that Daniel Levy has assured Ramos that his job is safe for now, but will give director of Damien Comolli the pink slip.
For the statistically inclined, Spurs are the first English side to play a competitive match at Stadio Fruli.
