Udinese poised to take decisive step

Udinese Calcio can confirm their progress to the UEFA Cup Round of 32 with a solitary point at home against NK Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 4, but they can expect no favours from their Croatian guests in what is their final Group D fixture.

• Udinese were not in action on Matchday 3, but two wins in their opening two games has left them within reach of the last 32. A point or more would send them through.

• Dinamo lost 1-0 at home against FC Spartak Moskva on 27 November and are now down to their final fixture. A win could prove priceless in Italy, since only once has a total of six points not been enough for a side to progress from the UEFA Cup group stage in its four-year history, with Rangers FC missing out in 2004/05.

• Tottenham Hotspur FC are not in action on Matchday 4, but their progress will be confirmed should a point or more for Udinese coincide with NEC Nijmegen failing to win at Spartak.

• Udinese and Dinamo have never met in UEFA club competition.

• Udinese have never come up against a Croatian side before, but Dinamo have played 16 games against teams from Italy, from which their record reads W3 D4 L9.

• Dinamo have never won a competitive away game against an Italian side, drawing two and losing the remaining six.

• Udinese coach Pasquale Marino will be getting his first taste of Croatian football.

• Marijan Vlak, who replaced Branko Ivanković on 24 November to begin a fourth spell as Dinamo coach, took charge in four matches against Italian sides in his second stint with the Zagreb club. Those games ended in three defeats and a win, with the victory coming at home against Parma FC in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup.

• Udinese have lost two of their last five UEFA club competition fixtures at the Friuli Stadium.

• Udinese's Marco Motta faced Ivan Kelava and Milan Badelj in Italy's 1-1 draw against Croatia in 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying. He also came up against Josip Tadić in Italy's 2-0 home win against the same opponents.

• Dinamo's only major European success came in the 1966/67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the non-UEFA affiliated predecessor of the modern UEFA Cup, where they beat Italian opponents Juventus 5-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals en route to defeating Leeds United AFC in the two-legged final.

• The most famous former Dinamo player to spend time in Italy is Zvonimir Boban, who represented AC Milan from 1992 to 2001. None of the current Dinamo squad have ever played in Serie A.

• Dinamo's Boško Balaban and Udinese's Antonio Di Natale both came on as substitutes as Italy beat Croatia 2-0 in Livorno in an August 2006 friendly, the two nations' most recent meeting.

• Dinamo have played five UEFA Cup group-stage away games and not won one of them. The only time they have avoided defeat was when they drew 1-1 at Stade Rennais FC in last season's competition.

• Udinese's Giovanni Pasquale is serving a suspension, having been sent off in his side's 2-1 Matchday 2 win at Spartak. Dinamo's Marijo Mandžukić and Ivica Vrdoljak are within a booking of missing their next UEFA competition game.

• Spartak play NEC in Wednesday's other Group D game. Tottenham are the only side in the section not in action on Matchday 4.

• The draw for the UEFA Cup Round of 32 and Round of 16 will be held at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon on Friday 19 December at 13.00CET. Group winners will be paired with third-placed sides from other UEFA Cup sections, while second-placed finishers will be drawn against one of the eight clubs who finished third in the UEFA Champions League groups. The UEFA Cup group winners and runners-up will play the second leg at home. Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.