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Dortmund's players celebrate after scoringduring the UEFA Europa League group C football match between PAOK FC and Borussia Dortmund at the Stadio Toumba in Thessaloniki on October 1, 2015. The match in a 1-1 draw. AFP PHOTO / SAKIS MITROLIDIS        (Photo credit should read SAKIS MITROLIDIS/AFP/Getty Images)
Dortmund's players celebrate after scoringduring the UEFA Europa League group C football match between PAOK FC and Borussia Dortmund at the Stadio Toumba in Thessaloniki on October 1, 2015. The match in a 1-1 draw. AFP PHOTO / SAKIS MITROLIDIS (Photo credit should read SAKIS MITROLIDIS/AFP/Getty Images)SAKIS MITROLIDIS/Getty Images

FK Qabala vs. Borussia Dortmund: Team News, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info

Lars PollmannOct 21, 2015

Borussia Dortmund face an unfamiliar foe in the Europa League group stage on Thursday, as they travel to Azerbaijan to meet FK Qabala.

Qabala is one of only two teams still in the competition that had started in the first qualifying round, the other being with Norwegian club Rosenborg BK. During their successful run, Qabala have relied on great form at home, where they've won in all three qualifying rounds and wrested a draw from Panathinaikos in the play-off. 

That's notable because Qabala don't get to play in front of their own fans. They play their Europa League home games in the capital, Baku, more than a three-hour drive away from Qabala. Despite that disadvantage, Qabala have yet to concede a goal at home in the competition, as German magazine Kicker noted.

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In the two group matches so far, Qabala drew 0-0 with PAOK Salonika and lost 1-2 at FC Krasnodar, sitting in last place of Group C. They currently hold the second spot in the Azerbaijani league, trailing last year's champions FK Qarabag by one point.

It's not the first trip to Azerbaijan for Dortmund. In 2010, they faced Qarabag in the Europa League play-off, winning 5-0 on aggregate. Eight of Dortmund's current players made the trip for the return leg that year, which was held in Baku as well.

Dortmund snapped a streak of four winless games on Friday, beating Mainz 2-0 away from home. After beating Krasnodar 2-1 and drawing 1-1 with PAOK, they can make a big step toward the round of 32 at Qabala. A win would give them an advantage of at least four points over the third-placed team, because PAOK and Krasnodar face each other.

Dortmund's Gonzalo Castro (L) and Paok's Dimitris Konstantinidis vie for the ball during the UEFA Europa League group C football match between PAOK FC and Borussia Dortmund at the Stadio Toumba in Thessaloniki on October 1, 2015. AFP PHOTO / SAKIS MITROLI

Date: Thursday, October 22

Time: 4 p.m. BST / 11 a.m. ET / 8 p.m. local time

Venue: Bakcell Arena, Baku

TV Info: FS1 (U.S. only)

Live Stream: BT Sport Online (U.K. only) / Fox Soccer 2Go (U.S. only)

Form Guide

QabalaDortmund
Sumqayit: WinHoffenheim: Draw
Ravan Baku: WinDarmstadt: Draw
Krasnodar: LossPAOK: Draw
Lankaran: WinMunich: Loss
Neftci Baku: WinMainz: Win

Predicted Lineups

Qabala

Qabala's defender Vojislav Stankovic (L) vies for the ball with PAOK's midfielder Robert Mak during the UEFA Europa League group C football match between Qabala FK and PAOK FC in Baku on September 17, 2015. AFP PHOTO / TOFIK BABAYEV        (Photo credit s

Bezotosny; Dashdemirov, Stankovic, Vernydub, Ricardinho; Meza, Gai, Pereyra; Zenjov, Antonov, Dodo

Ukrainian manager Roman Grygorchuk has trusted this XI, all players started both Europa League games.

Dortmund

Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Papastathopoulos, Hummels, Schmelzer; Weigl; Hofmann, Castro, Kagawa, Reus; Januzaj

The big story is Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan not making the trip due to safety concerns. Bleacher Report's Rory Marsden has detailed the reasons.

Unlike the game against POAK, however, where five regular starters got to stay at home, almost everyone else has made the trip. Neven Subotic stayed at home, but he isn't rested. He just doesn't seem to feature in Thomas Tuchel's plans, as noted by ESPN FC's Stephan Uersfeld. The Serbian has been supplanted as the third centre-back by defensive midfielder Sven Bender. 

In goal, Roman Weidenfeller will replace Roman Burki, like he did in the previous matches in the Europa League. Elsewhere, Tuchel will undoubtedly use the game to rest some of his star performers. A start for back-ups like Gonzalo Castro, Jonas Hofmann and Adnan Januzaj in a rotated squad seems likely.

Players to Watch

Former Arsenal defender and Portsmouth manager Tony Adams gestures during a news conference in Baku on May 12, 2010. Adams signed a three-year deal today to coach an obscure football club in the ex-Soviet republic of Azerbaijan. At a press conference in t

Qabala's most prominent man isn't a player. Futbolgrad.com, a website dedicated to football in the post-Soviet space, wrote: "In 2010 the club appointed Arsenal legend Tony Adams as manager, and though he lasted less than two season at the helm, he remains at the club as the director of football."

On the pitch, Brazilian winger Dodo is perhaps the greatest player of all time for the club—which was only founded in 2005. He has the most caps in the club's history and scored both goals in the play-off return leg at Panathinaikos, as relayed by Vadim Furmanov for RussianFootballNews.com.

For Dortmund, the focus will be on the back-ups. Tuchel needs them to step up if he wants to start rotating his squad, which will become a necessity at some point. 

Gonzalo Castro is the first player that comes to mind. The versatile midfielder has been somewhat disappointing thus far, after making an €11 million move from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer. With his versatility, the 28-year-old former Germany international would be the perfect "12th man" in the squad.

Key Battle: Dortmund vs. Their Own Complacency

Make no mistake about it: This is a game Dortmund must win. 

(L-R) Dortmund's Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa, Dortmund's goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller Dortmund's Korean defender Joo-Ho Park and Dortmund's midfielder Julian Weigl celebrate after the UEFA Europa League Group C football match between Borussia Dortm

Despite the hosts' impressive record at home, Dortmund can't be satisfied with anything other than three points. To put the two teams in comparison: Transfermarkt values the entire squad of Qabala at just over €14 million. Six of Dortmund's players are rated higher.

While Qabala certainly won't be a pushover, Dortmund's biggest opponent might be their own complacency. They have to approach the game seriously, take care of business and get on the five-hour flight back home with a win.

Qabala will have a chance to make a game out of it if Dortmund think they'll win just by showing up.

Odds

Qabala: 18/1

Draw: 61/10

Dortmund: 3/13

Odds courtesy of Oddschecker.

Lars Pollmann is a featured columnist writing on Borussia Dortmund. He also writes for Yellowwallpod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.

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