A look at our Champions League play-off opponents – Udinese

Udinese stand between Arsenal and the UEFA Champions League.

The Italian side finished 4th in Serie A last season and despite narrowly missing out on an automatic qualification spot, Udinese finished the season off with the 2nd highest amount of goals scored (65) – this was down to the best strike partnership in the whole of Serie A last season – Antonio Di Natale and Alexis Sánchez.

Antonio Di Natale managed to net 28 goals in 36 league appearances for the Bianconeri, and was the top goal-scorer for the 2nd year running in the Italian league. While Alexis Sánchez, who has recently departed for Barcelona, bagged 12 goals in 31 league appearances for Udinese.

As a strike force, the pair were deadly together and responsible for over 60% of the total goals scored by the club last season. However, it remains to be seen how they will fare now that Sanchez has departed.

Di Natale would almost certainly be their player to watch out for, their danger man as it were, and our defence will need to be on top of their game to keep him quiet. Despite being 33-years-old, Di Natale, who in the last 2 seasons bagged 57 goals in all competitions, knows his position well and packs a wealth of experience under his belt, so he will need to be kept under control in both outings if we are to succeed.

Di Natale is not only the clubs top striker; he is also the captain. The Italian international is a versatile player who can play anywhere up front and is known to have fantastic ball skills and pace – he is likely to cause any club he comes up against problems, including us.

Their manager, Francesco Guidolin, likes to adopt an unorthodox counter attacking 3-5-2 formation, which relies heavily on his wing-backs, Pablo Armero and Mauricio Isla, bombing forward.

Yet despite the pros, the Serie A outfit have come under severe criticism during the summer window, after selling several star players:

Gokhan Inler – Signed for Napoli in a deal worth €13 million.

Alexis Sanchez – Signed for Barcelona in a deal worth €26 million (plus bonuses).

Cristian Zapata – Signed for Villarreal in a deal thought to be worth €7 million.

Whilst they may not be the same force they were last season, in my opinion, The Gunners would be unwise to underestimate them, as they have swiftly replaced their departed players. However, like with any new players coming into a squad, it will take time for them to gel and despite Udinese playing counter attacking football, they are known to be slow starters, something that Arsenal could take advantage of.

If Udinese have a weakness it will undoubtedly be the cohesion of the new players coming in and the fact that they do get caught out quite a lot when they are on the attack. We will need the likes of Thomas Vermaelen to deal with Antonio Di Natale and everyone working hard to keep him at bay.

Make no mistake this two-legged clash is going to be a tough task for us. If we make the same kind of mistakes that we witnessed recently in the Emirates Cup, then we could get punished.

Will Udinese be able to deal with the pace of Robin Van Persie, Gervinho and Theo Walcott? I highly doubt it. However, it is not our strike force that worries me, it is our defence.

Udinese have the ability to end our Champions League dream before it even starts and, in my opinion, they are a team that cannot be taken lightly. If any of our players lose focus during the game, then we are liable to be punished for our mistakes.

RVP will not feature in the first leg on August 16th, as he is suspended following his dubious sending off against Barcelona last season. Samir Nasri will also be out of contention, if he remains a Gunner, whilst Arsene Wenger will be serving his touchline ban.

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