Borussia Dortmund will continue their bid for a place in the Europa League group stage when they visit Norwegian side Odd on Thursday night.
The Bundesliga outfit head into the first leg of the playoff tie as firm favourites to progress, but Thursday's result will be key as they look to avoid a potential upset.
Odd
It is certainly fair to say that plenty of Dortmund supporters would have been quickly searching for facts about Odd when it was confirmed the two sides would meet, but as one of the biggest clubs in Norway, they will be expected to provide a stern test against the German giants.
Despite being one of the founding members of the Norwegian league, Odd have never celebrated a title triumph, although they did finish third in the 2014 campaign to secure a spot in the Europa League.
As the Tippeligaen campaign takes place from April to November, Odd are already past the halfway stage this season and their Europa League journey started back in June. They have already knocked out Sheriff, Shamrock Rovers and Elfsborg on the way to the playoff round.
Odd head coach Dag-Eilev Fagermo has managed to guide his players through three tricky rounds in Europe, but the league form is a concern and they are currently sitting fifth with 10 games remaining in the season.
However, four games unbeaten in the league ensures they head into their toughest challenge with renewed confidence of causing an upset which would go down as one of the most surprising results in the competition.
The Skien-based club have already produced their most successful campaign in a UEFA competition at the third attempt, but with a record of just one defeat in six home matches in Europe, Fagermo will be hopeful of keeping the tie alive before travelling to Germany.
Europa League form: WDWWLW
Recent form (all competitions): LWWDLW
Borussia Dortmund
© Getty Images
After an emotional farewell for Jurgen Klopp at the end of his seven-year spell, it was difficult to predict what was to come for Dortmund and Thomas Tuchel, who has been trusted with the responsibility of leading the club back to more successful days following a disappointing season.
The Tuchel era may still be in its infancy, but the early signs have been good for the passionate Dortmund supporters, who watched their side start the Bundesliga season by recording an emphatic 4-0 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach, who only finished behind Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg in the previous campaign.
Dortmund's stunning display on the opening weekend of the new Bundesliga season came after a 2-0 win over Chemnitzer in the DFB-Pokal a week earlier, and they eased to a 6-0 aggregate success against Wolfsberger on the way to earning a place in the Europa League playoff round.
In truth, they were just too good for Wolfsberger and Chemnitzer, but the performance against Gladbach suggests that Tuchel has made a positive impact on the dressing room and they appear to be back to the free-flowing attacking side which won so many supporters during their best days under Klopp.
Tuchel will be fully aware that one disappointing result could halt the momentum at any stage, and although his biggest challenge will be to take the club back to the Champions League, the Dortmund fans will expect to be Europa League contenders in the knockout stage later in the season.
As the pressure of juggling competitions starts to pile on Tuchel, another comfortable win will go a long way to proving that this squad can return to their best with the former Mainz 05 boss.
Europa League form: WW
Recent form (all competitions): WWWW
Team News
© Getty Images
Tuchel will surely have one eye on Sunday's Bundesliga clash with Ingolstadt, but Dortmund will be keen to guard against complacency and the visitors look set to name a strong starting lineup.
Marco Reus, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Shinji Kagawa were all rested in the closing stages of the victory over Gladbach, and the attacking trio are in contention to start once again in Norway.
Despite recently confirming that summer signing Roman Burki was his first-choice goalkeeper, Tuchel may consider handing an opportunity to veteran shot-stopper Roman Weidenfeller, who looks set to play a reduced role this season.
Olivier Occean and Chukwuma Akabueze look certain to start for the hosts in what could be a 4-3-3 formation, but Fagermo's biggest decision is to choose between Rafik Zekhnini and Ole Jorgen Halversen for the final attacking spot.
Both players scored in a win over Start at the weekend, with Halversen replacing Zekhnini in the second half of a 4-0 triumph.
Odd possible starting lineup:
Rossbach, Eriksen, Ruud, Hagen, Grogaard, Nordkvelle, Samuelsen, Gashi, Halversen, Akabueze, Occean
Dortmund possible starting lineup:
Weidenfeller, Piszczek, Hummels, Ginter, Schmelzer, Gundogan, Bender, Kagawa, Castro, Reus, Aubameyang
Head To Head
This will be the first meeting of the two sides in any competition.
We say: Odd 0-3 Borussia Dortmund
It would be unwise to rest any hopes of a Europa League upset on this tie. Odd should make it tough for the visitors in the first leg, but Tuchel is unlikely to risk playing a weakened side and Dortmund have more than enough attacking talent to fancy their chances of breaching the home defence at least once. The Bundesliga side will be hopeful of taking a comfortable lead back to Signal Iduna Park.
Callum Mulvihill
