FC Koln will be looking to remain in pole position in Group D of the Europa Conference League when they host Partizan on Thursday.
The visitors, meanwhile, have drawn both of their games in the competition so far.
Match preview
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Having finished seventh in the Bundesliga in Steffen Baumgart's first season in charge of the club, Koln are competing in European competition for the first time in five seasons.
It is their debut season in the Europa Conference League, which only began as an entity last campaign, and Baumgart may feel that it is a tournament which his team can go far in should they play to their full capabilities.
Indeed, they have begun their league campaign in decent fashion, with Saturday's 3-2 win against Borussia Dortmund moving them up to seventh with 13 points from eight matches.
Things have gone to plan in Europe, too, with a respectable 1-1 draw away to Nice backed up by a fairly comfortable 4-1 win at home against Czech Republic outfit FC Slovacko last time out in the competition.
As such, should they beat Partizan as expected at RheinEnergieStadion on Thursday night, they would move five points clear of third position, and surely place one foot in the knockout stages in the process.
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For Partizan, meanwhile, this is their second successive season competing in the Europa Conference League, having been eliminated 8-3 on aggregate by Feyenoord in the last 16 in March earlier this year.
That was the furthest that the Serbian SuperLiga runners-up had progressed in European competition since reaching the same stage of the 2004-05 UEFA Cup, illustrating the opportunity this competition presents to some of the less-fancied sides across the continent.
Domestically, they are going fairly well, with four straight wins keeping them within five points of their fiercest rivals Red Star Belgrade at the top of the table.
Head coach Gordan Petric is likely to be content with two points from two matches in Europe so far, too, especially having played with 10 men for the vast majority of their trip to Slovacko, with Kristijan Belic's 22nd-minute dismissal leaving his side with a tough mountain to climb.
However, should they lose in Cologne and Thursday and see Nice beat Slovacko as expected, they would fall three points adrift of the qualification places, placing significant pressure on their final three matches of the group stage.
Team News
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Koln are likely to remain without Timo Horn, Tim Lemperle, Sebastian Andersson, Julian Chabot and Mathias Olesen due to injury, while illness may rule Jan Thielmann out of action.
With a tricky trip to Monchengladbach on Sunday in the Bundesliga, Baumgart may look to make a few changes, with the likes of Kristian Pedersen, Sargis Adamyan and Florian Dietz likely to see game time.
Partizan, meanwhile, will remain without Belic due to suspension, while Danilo Pantic is a long-term absentee with a serious cruciate ligament injury.
Petric may look to name the same starting XI that performed impressively to claim a 1-1 draw against French side Nice in their last match in this competition.
FC Koln possible starting lineup:
Schwabe; Schmitz, Soldo, Hubers, Pedersen; Martel, Skhiri; Adamyan, Duda, Kainz; Dietz
Partizan possible starting lineup:
Popovic; Zivkovic, Markovic, Vujacic, Urosevic; Traore, Fejsa; Diabate, Natkho, Andrade; Gomes
We say: FC Koln 2-1 Partizan
Partizan have shown in this competition that they should not be underestimated, but we expect Koln to secure a narrow victory and strengthen their grip on Group D.
Baumgart's side will have gained confidence from their victory against Dortmund at the weekend, and have enough strength in depth to make changes while retaining quality.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Brett Curtis
