Udinese managed to win the reverse fixture two weeks back, thus making a giant step towards the knockout stages, while Atletico need to win this game if they are to keep their qualifying hopes alive.

Despite the good start to the season and the arrival of several great players this summer, Atletico have experienced major problems of late and they are largely struggling to fulfill the expectations.

Los Colchoneros have just ended the seven-match winless run that included heavy defeats to Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao and Udinese, with the 3:1 win over Zaragoza acting as a big confidence boost.

Gregorio Manzano’s side are very motivated to continue the good run of results, and with Udinese set to take this game lightly, odds of 1.62 (8/13) offered by Ladbrokes on home win do look tempting.

With both Juanfran and Silvio recovered from their injuries, Mario Suarez is the only absentee at the moment.

Following the good performance against Zaragoza, Manzano is unlikely to make big changes to the side that started that clash.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Courtois – Silvio, Dominguez, Godin, Filipe Luis – Diego, Gabi, Assuncao, Turan – Falcao, Adrian.

Udinese have been in impressive form this season, especially on domestic stage, although they have shown a lot of promise in Europe as well.

Despite not taking Europa League very seriously, the Zebrette have picked up seven points from first three group games, thus coming really close to securing their place in the knockout stages.

After the 2:0 win over Atletico at Friuli, Udinese can no relax as they need just few more points to make it to the next round, so coach Francesco Guidolin is again set to rest some of his starters.

Key players Antonio Di Natale, Maurcio Isla, Giampiero Pinzi and Gabriel Torje didn’t even make the trip, while few other regular starters are expected to be on the bench.

Considering the circumstances, Udinese will struggle to score a goal at Vicente Calderon let alone to get all three points, so odds of 2.62 (13/8) offered by 888Sport on Atletico to win to nil are worth a shot.

Probable starting line-up (3-5-1-1): Handanovic – Ekstrand, Danilo, Neuton – Basta, Agyemang-Badu, Doubai, Abdi, Armero – Fabbrini – Floro Flores.