Atalanta Suffer Huge Injury Blow Ahead of Udinese Fixture | OneFootball

Atalanta will reportedly take on Udinese in their last Serie A fixture before November’s international break without Charles De Ketelaere. According to Corriere dello Sport, the Belgian forward has suffered a lesion in his left biceps femoris ahead of today’s encounter at the Gewiss Stadium.

De Ketelaere has been in superb form this season. He notched up two assists as Atalanta thrashed leaders Napoli 3-0 at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona last weekend. He also set Ademola Lookman up for a second-half opener in a 2-0 away win against Stuttgart in midweek UEFA Champions League action.

However, Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini will be without his talismanic playmaker today. That’s somewhat uncharted territory, considering De Ketelaere has featured in every game across all competitions this season. He made those appearances count, racking up two goals and six assists to establish himself as an indispensable first-team member.

Gasperini has heavily relied on De Ketelaere’s creativity and vision this term. Therefore, his absence will probably not go unnoticed. Atalanta will likely turn to summer signing Lazar Samardzic to fill the vacancy after the Serbia international enjoyed a significant uptick in form following a patchy start to life in Bergamo.

Buoyed by a four-match winning streak, Atalanta will take the field in high spirits. Visiting Udinese will be out to atone for back-to-back defeats to Venezia and Udinese. However, Gasperini’s men are odds-on favorites to take three points. They’ve not lost a league clash against the Friulian side since October 2017.