Hamburg  - Premier League clubs Tottenham and Everton face tough fights to keep their UEFA Cup hopes alive while former European champions Borussia Dortmund are in a perilous position in second leg matches of the first round on Thursday.

Of England's five-team contingent looking for a place in the 40-team group stage, Everton face the most difficult task as they travel to Belgium's Standard Liege level at 2-2 after the first leg at Goodison.

The situation is very similar to the one they faced against Metalist Kharkiv 12 months ago, when they scraped through, and goalkeeper Tim Howard believes they can repeat the feat.

"Last year we were resilient and we went there and got the goals we needed," he said.

"They were a difficult side and now we are sitting here faced with the same challenge as last year so we hope we can draw on that experience."

Twice UEFA Cup winners Tottenham Hotspur have their back to the walls as they travel to Poland's Wisla Krakow holding a slender 2-1 lead.

Spurs, sitting bottom of the Premier League table with two points from six games, have got off to their worst start in more than 50 years, but could be boosted by the return of captain Ledley King.

The defender was rested at the weekend as he continues to recover from knee surgery, but his presence would be a major boost to a Spurs side who are woefully short on confidence, and players.

"(Roman) Pavlyuchenko and (Vedran) Corluka can't play in Europe, Ledley King can't play in every match, Gareth Bale is injured, we have small injuries each week and I need to change three or four players every match," under-fire coach Juande Ramos said.

It looks easier for fellow Premier League side Aston Villa, who welcome Bulgarians Litex Lovech to Villa Park, leading 3-1 from the first leg, with manager Martin O'Neill likely to rest some of his top players.

Portsmouth meanwhile take a 2-0 lead to Portugal to play Guimaraes, while Manchester City will expect to see off Omonia Nicosia, leading 2-1 from the first leg.

Of Spain's hopes, Deportivo Coruna are the only Liga team who look in danger of not reaching the group phase.

The Galicians surprisingly lost 2-0 away to Norwegian side Brann Bergen two weeks ago and are in poor form, as Sunday's 4-2 thrashing by Valencia showed.

The other three Spanish teams - Racing Santander, Sevilla and Valencia - should have few problems reaching the group phase.

Santander should be able to withstand Finnish team Honka Espoo - who lost 1-0 in El Sardinero - despite injuries to forwards Pedro Munitis and Mohammed Tchite.

Sevilla should have few problems against Austria Salzburg, after a 2-0 win in the first leg, the same as Valencia, who won 1-0 away to Portuguese side Maritimo.

Valencia coach Unai Emery is likely to rest the likes of David Villa, David Albelda and Juan Mata, instead giving a rare start to reserves like Manuel Fernandes, Vicente Rodriguez and Pablo Hernandez.

All the four Italian sides in the tournament won their first-leg games, with Sampdoria having the easiest task at home after a 5-0 win at Kaunas.

Udinese should have no problems as they welcome Borussia Dortmund - one of six German sides in the competition - with a 2-0 lead, and AC Milan also appear set to qualify for the group stage as they beat Zurich 3-1 before visiting them in Switzerland.

Napoli are shining in the Serie A, where they lie second one point behind Lazio, but face a hard task when they visit Benfica with a narrow 3-2 win from the home game.

Of Germany's contingent, 1997 Champions League winners Dortmund are in the biggest danger of going out, but Bundesliga leaders SV Hamburg, European champions in 1983, also face a tricky trip to Romania's Unirea Urziceni after a goalless draw at home.

Wolfsburg are also in Romania, holding a 2-1 first-leg win when they take on Rapid Bucharest.

Hertha Berlin have already advanced after overcoming St Patrick's Athletic of Ireland, while VfB Stuttgart and Schalke 04 are well placed after away first-leg victories.

Stuttgart are 2-1 up as they entertain Bulgarian side Cherno More Varna, while Schalke welcome back goalkeeper Manuel Neuer after a 12-week injury absence for the visit of Apoel Nicosia following a 4-1 victory in Cyprus. (dpa)