The coaches of these two teams have faced each other 8 times in the past, with 4 wins for Inter coach (the last 4 played), 1 draw and 3 wins for Guidolin. In the last 4 home games played at home by Ranieri's sides they have scored 7 goals.

Ranieri has faced Udinese 17 times as a coach, with 7 wins, 2 draws and 8 defeats. He has never drawn at home: 6 wins for his teams and 2 for the Friulans in the 8 previous encounters.

Guidolin has met Inter 27 times before, winning 5, drawing 6 and losing 16. Guidolin hasn't won a competitive fixture away to Inter since 25 April 1999 when, during his first spell at Udinese, his team won 1-3. In the 10 matches he has played at the Meazza since then, he has drawn 3 and lost 7.

Inter are unbeaten in their last 4 Serie A and Champions League games: a 2-1 home win over Lille (Champions League), 2-1 at home agiinst Cagliari (Serie A), 1-1 away to Trabzonspor (Champions League) and 1-0 away to Siena (Serie A). It is the Nerazzurri's longest sequence without losing this season.

Inter have scored at least once in each of their last 9 competitive fixtures, netting 11 goals in the process. The last time the Nerazzurri failed to hit the net was on 1 October, when Napoli won 0-3 in Milan. That was the only match during Ranieri's reign (12 games in total) in which the team has drawn a blank; in the other 11 matches Inter have scored 17 times. Castaignos' strike against Siena means 10 different Nerazzurri players have scored in the current league campaign. the only side with more different goalscorers is AC Milan (13). The 10 Nerazzurri players to have hit the net are Cambiasso, Castaignos, Coutinho, Forlan, Lucio, Maicon, Milito, Pazzini, Sneijder and Thiago Motta.

For Claudio Ranieri, December is the month in which his sides have the highest points average per league game: 1.84, with 23 wins, 14 draws and 8 defeats in 45 matches. Ranieri hasn't lost a league game in Italy during the last month of the year since 15 December 1996, when his Fiorentina side was beaten 2-0 in Udine. In the 14 league fixtures played by his sides in December since then, his teams have had 11 wins and 3 draws.

Inter v Udinese will see two veterans of top-flight management go head-to-head: Ranieri and Guidolin have made more Serie A appearances than any of the other coaches in 2011/12 Serie A. Francesco Guidolin holds the record: he has coached Serie A sides on 453 occasions, with 169 wins, 124 draws and 160 defeats. Ranieri has clocked up 338 top-flight appearances with 147 wins, 109 draws and 82 defeats.

The last goal Udinese scored away from home in a competitive fixture was on 29 September, when they drew 1-1 away to Celtic in the Europa League, Abdi converting an 88th minute penalty for the Friulan outfit. Since then, in the remaining 2 minutes of that match plus the games away to Napoli l (2-0 league defeat), Atletico Madrid (4-0 in the Europa League), Parma (2-0 in Serie A) and Rennes (0-0 in the Europa League), they have failed to hit the net in 452 minutes on their travels. The last time Udinese scored an away goal in Serie A was on 21 September when they drew 1-1- at AC Milan, Di Natale slotting home in the 29th minute. Since then, in the remaining 61 minutes of that match and the games away to Cagliari and Atalanta (two 0-0s), Napoli and Parma (two 2-0 defeats), Udinese have clocked up 252 minutes without scoring away from home.

Should he play today, Antonio Di Natale will celebrate his 300th Serie A appearance. His previous 299 appearances have been with Empoli and Udinese. Di Natale made his Serie A debut on 14 September 2002 in Como 0-2 Empoli, scoring his first goal - Empoli's second - in the 59th minute. The Udinese hotshot has hit 139 goals in Serie A and is Udinese's all-time top scorer for top-flight goals with 121 (and counting). Antonio Di Natale is the most decisive player in Serie A this season, having won Udinese 13 points with his goals.

MILAN - The Nerazzurri were beaten by Udinese at the Stadio Meazza this evening as Isla grabbed the only goal on 73 minutes. The first half was a fairly tame affair but things picked up after the interval before it all went off in the last five minutes. First there was a penalty for Udinese, which Di Natale took and Julio Cesar saved, then four minutes later there was a spot kick for Inter, which Pazzini incredibly hit into the stands after slipping at the crucial moment.

FIRST HALF – For the Udinese match Claudio Ranieri picked Ranocchia and Samuel in the centre of defence in front of Julio Cesar, with Zanetti and Chivu playing wide of them; Faraoni started the match for the first time, on the right wing, with Alvarez on the left. The rest of the midfield was made up of Motta and Cambiasso; with Pazzini and Milito up front.

Inter got off to a good start and put pressure on the Udinese defence but in the 6th minute Armero was the first with a chance at the far post; fortunately he slipped. In the space of a minute Milito bravely had a go at the other end but was off target. In the 12th minute Torje tried a right-footed shot which was looking good until Julio Cesar claimed the ball. On 16 minutes a nicely worked Inter move saw Milito pass to Faraoni, who found Zanetti with a back-heel and he, in turn, sent the ball back to El Principe whose shot flew high over the far post. In the 20th minute Isla broke away on a counter-attack and his pass found Di Natale, who sprinted towards Julio Cesar but he had been caught offside. Two minutes later the Udinese striker tried again, but was unlucky. There was another offside call in the 26th minute, but down the other end of the pitch: Milito, like Di Natale before him, was wrongly flagged. On 29 minutes Milito's free-kick flew just over the bar and soon after then a perfect one-two between Motta and Milito saw the midfielder slide in to beat Ferronetti and unleash as shot, but Handanovic was there to save. Alvarez put Faraoni through in the 38th minute and he crossed from the right wing looking for Pazzini, but Ferronetti made sure it didn't reach him. On 44 minutes Chivu crossed in Pazzini's direction but was beaten to the ball, Zanetti had a go from the centre of the penalty area but his shot was deflected. At the other end Pinzi set up Torje in the area but he was whistled for offside. A minute later the captain tried another shot but his right foot sent the ball high. Two minutes later the referee blew for half time and the teams went into the dressing rooms with the score at Inter 0-0 Udinese.

SECOND HALF – Nagatomo replaced Alvarez during the interval. In the 52nd minute Julio Cesar clashed with Torje and Chivu as the Udinese forward was played in by Asamoah; the Romanian defender stayed on the deck for a few moments but was able to continue. Two minutes later Torje headed goalwards from Armero's cross – easy for Julio Cesar. Down the other end, Pazzini tried a header of his own from Samuel's ball, but couldn't get it on target. Di Natale fired wide with his left foot in the 57th minute, then had another go a minute later with a swerving effort on the turn that almost caught out Julio Cesar. On the hour mark Zanetti cut out a pass that would have put Di Natale clean through on goal, before Udinese missed a fantastic chance to take the lead (69th minute) as Isla burst forward towards Julio Cesar's goal accompanied by Di Natale, only for the Chilean to make the mistake of laying off for his captain, who was offside. Motta skimmed the crossbar in the 71st minute before Pazzini, with his back to goal, freed himself of Benatia and got his shot in but the game was stopped for handball. Udinese took the lead in the 73rd minute. Di Natale played into the path of the approaching Floro Flores, who then fed Isla on the overlap, and the midfielder blasted past Julio Cesar. The Nerazzurri tried to react immediately but Handanovic was commanding in the air. In the 82nd minute Zanetti and Julio Cesar cut out dangerous crosses from Isla in quick succession. With five minutes of normal time remaining the visitors were awarded a penalty: Asamoah ran onto a ball threaded into the box, Zanetti fouled him and the ref pointed to the spot and booked the captain, whose second yellow meant he had to leave the pitch. It was the first time Zanetti had been sent off in Serie A; his only previous red card for Inter was in the Coppa Italia, for protesting (Inter 0-2 Parma, semi-final 1999). Julio Cesar then pulled off a minor miracle to save Di Natale's low spot kick. Two minutes later a similar scene took place down the other end: Ferronetti fouled Milito and Gervasoni gave Inter a penalty: Pazzini took it but incredibly slipped and skied his attempt. Immediately afterwards Udinese also went down to 10 men because Ferronetti received his second booking for protesting. There was one chance left for Inter and it came in the third minute of stoppage time: Stankovic hooked his foot around but not over the ball and his effort from the edge of the box flew over. After four minutes of injury time, Inter v Udinese ended 0-1. The Nerazzurri remain on 14 points.

Inter 0-1 Udinese (HT: 0-0)
Scorer: Isla 73.

Inter: 1 Julio Cesar; 4 Zanetti, 23 Ranocchia, 25 Samuel, 26 Chivu (Stankovic 80); 37 Faraoni (Zarate 62), 8 Thiago Motta, 19 Cambiasso, 11 Alvarez (Nagatomo 46); 7 Pazzini, 22 Milito.
Unused subs: 12 Castellazzi, 2 Cordoba, 18 Poli, 30 Castaignos.
Allenatore: Claudio Ranieri.

Udinese: 1 Handanovic; 17 Benatia, 5 Danilo, 32 Ferronetti; 8 Basta, 3 Isla, 66 Pinzi, 20 Asamoah, 27 Armero; 25 Torje (Floro Flores 62); 10 Di Natale (Ekstrand 90+1).
Unused subs: 21 Padelli, 7 Badu, 26 Pasquale, 30 Doubai, 31 Fabbrini.
Coach: Francesco Guidolin.

Referee: Andrea Gervasoni (Mantova).
Booked: Zanetti 47 + 85, Armero 63, Motta 81, Pinzi 84, Ferronetti 88 + 90.
Sent off: Zanetti 85, Ferronetti 90.
Added time: 2 + 4 minutes.
Attendance: 42,122.

starting lineups

substitutes