Udinese out to undermine Liverpool bid

Udinese Calcio are out, but can take Liverpool FC down with them in their final Group A game, with the Reds seeking to deny BSC Young Boys a UEFA Europa League round of 32 slot.

Group A permutations
• Anji are through as even if they are caught by both Liverpool and Young Boys, the Russian side would finish second behind the Reds in a three-way head-to-head.

• Liverpool are second on head-to-head record ahead of Young Boys and will qualify with a win. A draw would also take them through provided Young Boys do not win. Liverpool would be out with a defeat, even if Young Boys lose, as YB would be top of a three-way head-to-head involving the Reds and Udinese.

• Young Boys will be through if they pick up more points than Liverpool. They will also qualify if both they and Liverpool lose as YB will be top of a three-way head-to-head involving the Reds and Udinese.

• Udinese are out.

Previous meetings
• Udinese won 3-2 at Anfield when the sides met for the first time on matchday two. Antonio Di Natale's strike, an own goal by Sebastián Coates and a superb effort from Giovanni Pasquale were enough to trump Jonjo Shelvey's early opener and a sublime Luis Suárez free-kick.

• Liverpool's 24 European games against Italian teams have ended W8 D5 L11. Those matches include five UEFA club competition finals (W0 D2 L3, though the draws – 1-1 against AS Roma in the 1984 European Champion Clubs' Cup final, and 3-3 against AC Milan in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final – prompted Liverpool wins on penalties).

• The 1984 win against Roma came in the Italian capital, designated neutral host of the final, while the 2-0 UEFA Super Cup defeat by Juventus in 1985 occurred in Turin.

• Those finals aside, Liverpool's record on Italian soil reads W2 D3 L4. At home, their record is W6 D0 L4.

• Udinese's four fixtures against English sides ended W2 D0 L2 (W1 D0 L1 at home – W1 D0 L1 in England). They beat Tottenham Hotspur FC in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage, but lost 1-0 in London and 2-1 in Udine to Arsenal FC in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League play-offs.

Match background
• Udinese have missed out on the knockout stage for the first time in their four UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns.

• Udinese are on an unprecedented three-game losing streak in Group A: they had never lost more than two games in a row in Europe prior to matchday five.

• A 1-0 loss at Anji on matchday three ended a three-game winning streak on the road for Liverpool.

Team facts
• Udinese goalkeeper Daniele Padelli played for Liverpool in 2007 on loan from UC Sampdoria, making his only appearance for the club in a 2-2 draw at home against Charlton Athletic FC on 13 May that year – the final game of the season, remembered as Robbie Fowler's last for the Reds.

• Current Liverpool players Jamie Carragher, Daniel Agger and Steven Gerrard were among Padelli's team-mates that day.

• Liverpool boast Italian talent in the form of forward Fabio Borini. Once a trainee at Bologna FC, he joined Chelsea FC as a teenager. He played in Serie A for the first time last season, with AS Roma, then became Brendan Rodgers' first signing as Liverpool manager this summer.

• Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin was once an Italy Under-21 midfielder, and has played for – and coached – a large number of Italian teams. He took charge of Udinese for the second time in 2010, matching a club-best third-placed finish in Serie A in 2011/12. He briefly coached outside Italy with AS Monaco FC in 2005/06.

• Rodgers replaced Kenny Dalglish as Liverpool manager at the end of the 2011/12 season, having won promotion to the Premier League with Swansea City AFC and led the Welsh club to a comfortable mid-table finish in their first campaign back in the top flight. Born in Northern Ireland, he had to end his playing career at 20 due to a knee condition, but made his name as a coach with Watford FC and Reading FC. He is coaching in Europe for the first time this term.