Milan hopes to end poor run of form at Udinese

Soccer Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - Udine, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan will try to return to the win column on Saturday at Udinese after a dip in form has left the Rossoneri staring up at Juventus in the Serie A standings.

A run of seven wins in eight matches in all competitions has been followed by a pair of losses and a scoreless draw, with Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri calling on his team to refocus its attentions.

The 0-0 draw with Napoli last weekend dropped Milan one point back of Juventus in the league, and it was followed by a 2-1 defeat against the Old Lady in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals on Wednesday.

Udinese has had some struggles of its own recently, having lost two of its last three games. But the hosts know that a win on Saturday will see them join Milan on 44 points and continue their push in the title race.

Milan will be eager to put its recent struggles in the past, but it will have to do so without the services of striker and leading scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who will be serving the first of a three-game ban on Saturday.

The Swede leads Milan with 15 goals this season, but he received a red card in the club's draw with Napoli after slapping defender Salvatore Aronica.

The injury absences of both Alexandre Pato and Kevin Prince Boateng will further take away offensive options for Allegri.

Udinese possesses the top scorer in the league in Antonio Di Natale, who has netted 16 goals this term, while the club also brings an unbeaten home mark into the match.

Juventus enters the weekend one point clear of Milan and with a game in hand and will try to keep the pressure on Allegri's men with a win at bottom-half Bologna on Sunday.

Fifth-place Inter Milan has fallen nine points off the pace of Juve after claiming one point from its last three matches and the Nerazzurri host last- place Novara on Sunday, while Roma, which moved to within one point of Inter after a 4-0 win over Claudio Ranieri's men last weekend, travel to Siena on Monday.

Napoli has slipped to seventh after going its last five games without a win, a streak the team hopes to snap on Monday at home against Chievo.

Palermo has won three of its last four games and visits Cagliari in Saturday's other match, Lecce sits three points from safety and travels to Atalanta, Catania entertains Genoa and Fiorentina meets up with Parma at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in a matchup of mid-table sides.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.