Benevento take on Udinese in Serie A on Sunday, with the hosts looking to remain outside of the relegation places.

Udinese, meanwhile, can move up to 11th in the table with a victory.

Match preview

Having performed above expectations in the early months of the campaign following their promotion from Serie B last season, Benevento have fallen to 17th in the table after just two wins in 17 matches since the turn of the year.

Strangely, one of those victories came away to reigning champions Juventus last month; had they instead lost that match as expected, Filipo Inzaghi's side would currently be sitting in the relegation zone.

Should 18th-placed Cagliari extend their winning run to three matches against Roma this weekend, though, Benevento will need to avoid defeat to Udinese on Sunday in order to avoid falling into the bottom three.

Inzaghi's side did at least pick up a point from a 2-2 draw at Genoa in midweek, although having led twice via Nicolas Viola's penalty and Gianluca Lapadula's fifth strike of the season, Inzaghi may have been disappointed not to claim all three.

Equally, though, a better display than two shots on target and 34% possession may be required to pick up a positive result against Udinese, who have gradually improved up as the season has progressed.

Indeed, Udinese looked set to be deeply embroiled in another relegation battle this season, but a decent run of 17 points from 10 matches between January and March has helped them open up an eight-point gap to the bottom three.

As has generally been the case since he joined the club in 2016, Rodrigo de Paul has comfortably been Le Zebrette's best player, scoring eight league goals and laying on five assists for his teammates while generally proving a menace to his opponents with his superb dribbling ability.

Luca Gotti's side clearly desperately missed De Paul in midweek, though, as Udinese fell to a fourth defeat in five matches after a disappointing 1-0 loss at home to Cagliari without their suspended talisman.

Gotti would have considered the defeat as a huge missed opportunity, as even a point would have kept his side 11 points clear of the relegation zone, which with only six matches remaining would have all but secured the club's safety in Italy's top flight for a 48th successive season.

Relegation still remains an incredibly unlikely proposition for them, though; victory at Benevento on Sunday would keep their outside hopes of finishing in the top-half of the table alive.

Team News

Benevento could be without Viola, who scored their opening goal against Genoa on Wednesday, after the midfielder was substituted late on in the match with a knock.

Pasquale Schiattarella replaced him during the match and could be selected by Inzaghi from the start should Viola be ruled out.

Daam Foulon, Gabriele Moncini and Marco Sau are likely to remain sidelined through injury.

Udinese, meanwhile, will travel without De Paul once more as the attacking midfielder serves the second of his two-match suspension after his red card against Crotone earlier this month.

Former Watford forwards Gerard Deulofeu and Ignacio Pussetto are both out for the rest of the season with knee injuries, while Sunday's trip to Benevento is likely to come too soon for Mato Jajalo.

Jayden Braaf and Fernando Llorente will compete to displace Fernando Forestieri alongside Stefano Okaka in attack, with Braaf's mobility perhaps giving him the edge.

Benevento possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Tuia, Glik, Barba; Depaoli, Schiattarella, Ionita, Hetemaj, Improta; Lapadula, Gaich

Udinese possible starting lineup:
Musso; Becao, Bonifazi, Nuytinck; Molina, Arslan, Wallace, Pereyra, Larsen; Osaka, Braaf

We say: Benevento 1-1 Udinese

Both sides appear to have hit a bit of a rut of late, with the visitors certainly not the same side without the suspended De Paul.

We can envisage a share of the spoils on Sunday, which would at least ensure Benevento do not fall into the bottom three, regardless of how Cagliari fare against Roma.

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