West Ham United's season begins a month before the majority of their Premier League counterparts as they enter the Europa League at the first qualifying round after finishing top of the Fair Play table.
The Hammers have been drawn against Lusitanos from the minute principality of Andorra and will fancy themselves to advance in their first European match in almost nine years.
West Ham
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After losing their last three games of the Premier League season to finish 12th, Sam Allardyce was relieved of his duties and has since been replaced by former Hammer Slaven Bilic.
Interestingly, Bilic will not take charge of the team for this game, though, as he wants to continue working with the squad at pre-season training in Ireland. Academy boss Terry Westley will manage the East London side instead.
"Our preparations in Cork have gone very well," said Westley. "Slaven is working with the other half of the squad in Ireland."
West Ham last appeared in a European competition when the Europa League was called the UEFA Cup in 2006-07, losing 4-0 on aggregate in the first round to Italian side Palermo.
They did win the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965 following success in the FA Cup, while they also claimed the now-defunct Intertoto Cup in 1999.
Impressively, West Ham have sold out Upton Park in what is the first game of the club's final season at the ground before their move to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford.
Recent form: LDWLLL
Lusitanos
Managed by Xavi Roura, Lusitanos finished second in the four-team Andorran playoff system which comes into effect after 14 rounds of the 20-game season in the Primera Divisio.
Last season was the first one in five that they failed to reach a qualifying round of a European competition.
In the previous four seasons they appeared twice in Champions League and twice in Europa League qualifying, going out heavily in the first round each time to opponents from Macedonia, Croatia, Malta and the Faroe Islands.
The team has Portuguese roots and a similar logo to the national team, containing players predominantly from the country on the far West of Central Europe.
Recent form: WDLDLW
Team News
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At today's pre-match press conference, Westley decided to fully name the XI that will start tomorrow's match.
New signing Darren Randolph will make his debut in goal, while James Tomkins will captain the side at centre-back.
Youngsters Lewis Page and Reece Oxford will also make their first-team debuts for the home side.
Westley has decided to not hold back with his forward selections as Diafra Sakho and Mauro Zarate lead the line.
West Ham possible starting lineup:
Randolph; O'Brien, Tomkins, Burke, Page; Amalfitano, Poyet, Oxford, Jarvis; Sakho, Zarate
Lusitanos possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Acosta, Munoz, Sonejee, Azevedo, Brito, Conteh-Lacalle, Armada, Reis, Dos Reis, Aguilar
Head To Head
The two sides have never met before and it is also the first time that West Ham have come up against an opponent from Andorra, the sixth-smallest nation in Europe.
The second leg takes place between France and Spain in Andorra's capital, Andorra La Vella, which is the highest capital city in Europe because of its location in the Pyrenees mountain range.
We say: West Ham 12-0 Lusitanos
Any guess welcome. West Ham might be without their manager and several of their first-team squad, but they should still have far, far too much for these minnows. Lusitanos's four away qualifiers in Europe have been 0-5, 1-5, 0-8 and 1-5 and you would expect the hosts to have much more than their opponents on those occasions. Let's say the Hammers will get into double figures with Sakho and Zarate leading the line in front of surely the biggest crowd Lusitanos have and might ever play in front of.
Pascal Lemesre
