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Udinese and Bayer Leverkusen will continue their pre-season preparations on Thursday as they meet for a friendly game at the Alois Latini Stadion.
The Serie A side have been training in Austria since last week and have played a couple of friendly games thus far. They faced Union Berlin last week and faced Ilirija FC in their most recent friendly encounter.
Their game against Berlin ended in a 3-3 draw, while they managed to secure a 3-0 win against the Slovenian team. Ilija Nestorovski came on as a second-half substitute and his hat-trick helped them to their first win of the pre-season.
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Bayer Leverkusen have played a couple of games in the pre-season thus far, kicking off their preparations with a 6-1 win against MSV Duisburg. Their previous friendly game against Panathinaikos ended in a goalless draw at Thursday's venue.
Udinese have a friendly game scheduled against Chelsea at the end of the month, after which they kick off their 2022-23 campaign in the Coppa Italia in August. This will be the final friendly of the pre-season for Leverkusen as they get their 2022-23 campaign underway in the DFP-Pokal on Elversberg.
Udinese vs Bayer Leverkusen Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- This will be the first meeting in a friendly game between the two sides as all four of their meetings thus far have been competitive fixtures.
- They have met four times in back-to-back campaigns in the Europa League qualifying phase fixtures in the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons. The fixture has been closely contested between the two sides, with Leverkusen having a 2-1 lead in wins while one game has ended in a draw. Leverkusen have outscored their Italian rivals 4-3 in these fixtures.
Udinese vs Bayer Leverkusen Prediction
The two sides have scored six goals in friendly games thus far and in all likelihood, this will be a high-scoring game. Ilija Nestorovski has been in a rich vein of form, scoring five of the club's six goals in two friendly games, and he is likely to start here.
Florian Wirtz has resumed training but remains a long way away from match fitness. The Bundesliga club are expected to field a similar starting lineup to their previous two friendly games.
Given the form of the two sides, a high-scoring draw could ensue here.
Prediction: Udinese 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen
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Udinese vs Bayer Leverkusen Betting Tips
Tip 1: Result - Draw.
Tip 2: Goals - Over/under 2.5 goals - Over 2.5.
Tip 3: At least a goal to be scored in the second half - Yes.
Tip 4: Ilija Nestorovski to score anytime - Yes.
