Athletic v Östersund background

European debutants Östersund are the surprise frontrunners in UEFA Europa League Group J, but the Swedish club face a tough test of their credentials in Bilbao against an Athletic team desperate to post their first win of the section.

Previous meetings
• In the clubs' first meeting on matchday three, Östersund were poised to make it three wins from three in the group until Athletic's Iñaki Williams struck late on to secure a 2-2 draw. The Spanish side had opened the scoring through Aritz Aduriz, only for the hosts to go 2-1 up through Salisu Gero and Curtis Edwards.

• Spanish teams are unbeaten in 19 UEFA encounters with Swedish clubs (W16 D3) since IFK Göteborg beat Barcelona 2-1 in the UEFA Champions League in December 1994.

Form guide
• After winning three and drawing one of their UEFA Europa League qualifying matches this season, Athletic have failed to win any of their opening three group games. The matchday-two home defeat by Zorya (0-1) ended the Basque club's run of five straight home wins in the competition.

• Östersund have lost only one of their nine European encounters – 3-1 at PAOK in the play-offs – but have a positive balance away from home (W2 D1 L1).

• Seventh in Spain last term, Athletic have successfully negotiated five of their six UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stages, including each of the last two. They were losing finalists in the 1976/77 UEFA Cup and 2011/12 UEFA Europa League.

• First-time Swedish Cup winners in 2016/17, Östersund have reached the UEFA Europa League group stage in their debut UEFA campaign, having eliminated Galatasaray, Fola Esch and PAOK in qualifying.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Ostersund to Bilbao is around 2,500km.

• Athletic have conceded 82 goals in the UEFA Europa League, group stage to final – more than any other club.

• Athletic midfielder Raúl García was a 2009/10 UEFA Europa League winner with Atlético Madrid.

• Athletic's 36-year-old striker Aritz Aduriz top-scored in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League with ten goals. He needs one more to reach 20 for the competition, a landmark achieved by just two players – Radamel Falcao and Óscar Cardozo.

• Suspended for next match if booked: Fouad Bachirou (Östersund).

The coaches
• Better known as 'Cuco', José Ángel Ziganda was a forward for Osasuna and Athletic, and later guided Osasuna to the 2006/07 UEFA Cup semi-finals as coach. He was handed the Athletic job in May 2017 after a six-year spell as B team boss.

• Englishman Graham Potter has helped steer Östersund from the Swedish fourth tier to the UEFA Europa League since taking the reins in 2011. He played in England's lower leagues with teams including Birmingham, Stoke and West Brom.