Following the firing of Pasquale Marino, Gianni De Biasi will make his debut on the Udinese bench against Bari.

Bari have gone from strength to strength, and will hope that the New Year does not bring about a change in fortunes. Their last game was against Juventus, whom they trumped 3-1 at the Stadio San Nicola.

The Bianconeri will miss influential striker Antonio Di Natale, who will be absent due to a ban. Christian Obodo, Niki Zimling, and Giovanni Pasquale are licking their wounds, while Kwadwo Asamoah will be unavailable due to the African Cup of Nations. But Alexis Sanchez and Simone Pepe will be available to relatively ease things concerning the attack.