Udinese: Deulofeu risks not being there, Pussetto and Success warm up

The Argentine has not been a regular since 9 January, the Nigerian has already teamed up with Beto. The absence of the number 10 would affect in terms of goals and also of key passes

UDINE. The approach of Gerard Deulofeu to the match against Cagliari could be accompanied by the AC / DC soundtrack. The tolling of the famous “Hells bells” would be fine, because showing up at the appointment without number 10 would really be a “hellish” prospect for Udinese who on Sunday really have an opportunity to get away from the hot zone definitively, where a defeat would relaunch the players. opponents and would greatly affect Juventus’ self-esteem.

In short, it is appropriate to say that Mr. Gabriele Cioffi is anxiously following the possible recovery from muscle fatigue in the right thigh of the Catalan who, despite having been administered over the last ten days, during the stop of the championship to allow the activity of the national teams, really risks the forfeit.

Deulofeu missed the gallop in the family last Saturday and was not in the group even at the resumption for the resumption of preparation, Tuesday afternoon, the day from which he began to work separately, without forcing. In a nutshell, the signals are not good, even if the scenario could change suddenly in the next 72 hours.

In the meantime, Cioffi is pondering the alternatives, he must be prepared in the “alchemy” exam, finding a surrogate worthy of a player with 9 goals and 2 assists in 25 Serie A games, among other things with an increasingly higher performance stable, given the 3 goals in the last six days between Lazio, Milan, Sampdoria, Rome and Naples. But we must not stop only at the realization phase, in 13th place in the ranking of scorers (without taking penalties, among other things).

Deulofeu is also 5th in the whole championship in key passes (54), according to data collected by the League. He may or may not like his desire to have the ball at his feet, but undoubtedly the number 10 has a significant impact on team play.

Without him Cioffi will have to try to propose a player who knows how to move between the lines and combine with Beto in the attacking tandem of Udinese. At the level of the leg, Nacho Pussetto could replicate Deulofeu’s “shots”, even if the Argentine has collected very little in terms of minutes since the beginning of the calendar year. 184 minutes in the 8 games in which he participated, only one as a starter, that of January 9 against Atalanta, clouded by infections. In a nutshell, Pussetto was not among the protagonists a year after that damned knee injury that forced him into an operation, a run-up and a lot of problems on the road to complete recovery in 2021.

Isaac Success, on the other hand, has just returned from three days in the pits. There was talk of a malaise, then of a muscle problem: he seems to have recovered now, but he too has not played as a starter for some time, since the beginning of February. The last time was in Verona, when Udinese took 4. In the previous match, however, he teamed up with Beto and Udinese won: 2-0 with Torino, but the goal of the bracket was from Pussetto on a football rigor that the Argentine himself obtained in full recovery.

A change of form also deserves attention: Cioffi without Deulofeu could also draw a 3-5-1-1 on the field, with Pereyra behind the center-forward, Beto, and a solid median, with Arslan and Makengo from inside. A more than credible option.