Genoa vs Udinese Prediction: In-form forwards to inspire high-scoring encounter

Cagliari and Napoli kick off the weekend's Serie A action at 17:30 on Friday, but the evening ends at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris (19:45 GMT, live on Betfred.com), where Genoa host Udinese.

Below are my Genoa vs Udinese predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

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Team News

Patrizio Masini returns for Genoa after serving a suspension in last Sunday's 2-0 win at Hellas Verona, so boss Daniele De Rossi may have a full complement to choose from on Friday.

Football Odds

As for Udinese head coach Kosta Runjaic, he takes his side to Genoa without Adam Buksa (calf), Alessandro Zanoli (knee), Jordan Zemura (muscle) and Nicolo Bertola (ankle).

Genoa vs Udinese Odds

Genoa are 11/10 to win, implying a 47.6% probability of success, while Udinese are 13/5, or a 27.8% chance, with the draw offered at 21/10.

Player to Receive a Card - Leo Ostigard (GEN) @ 11/4

Udinese's Keinan Davis is one of the most difficult strikers to defend against in Serie A, as highlighted by his fouled-per-90 average of 2.3 this season.

The 28-year-old, who has scored four goals in his last seven games to take his league season tally to nine in 25 appearances, has been fouled 14 times across his last five matches, including three times in last Saturday's 1-0 loss to Juventus.

His strike partner, Nicolo Zaniolo, has proven equally as tricky to contain, averaging 2.4 fouls won per 90 in Serie A, and he was also fouled three times against Juventus, drawing a yellow-card challenge from Davis' fellow Englishman, centre-back Lloyd Kelly.

Both forwards struck fear into Fiorentina's three-man defence in a 3-0 victory for I Bianconeri on March 2, with all three booked; Luca Ranieri and Marin Pongracic for taking down Zaniolo, while Daniele Rugani was shown a yellow for conceding a penalty against Davis.

Today's Football Fixtures

Zaniolo has drawn six yellow cards in his last five league appearances, while it's three in the last five for Davis.

So, I'm looking to Genoa's three-man defence in the Player to Receive a Card market for Friday's fixture, and I'm drawn to the most central of those three, Norway international Leo Ostigard, who is averaging 1.3 fouls per 90 in this season's Serie A and has picked up six yellow cards in 23 appearances.

Both Teams To Score - Yes @ 11/10

Genoa and Udinese are second and joint-third, respectively, in Serie A's BTTS table, with 59% (17) of the former's 29 league games this season seeing both teams score, and 55% (16) of the latter's 29 going that way.

BTTS-Yes has been a winning selection in four of Genoa's six home games this calendar year, while four of Udinese's six away matches have seen both teams get on the scoresheet.

December's reverse fixture in Udine finished 2-1 in favour of the visitors, and with both sides fielding in-form strikers, Davis and Vitinha - the latter has scored in back-to-back games - supplemented by five-goal forward Zaniolo and six-goal attacker Lorenzo Colombo, hopes are high for goals in this contest.