Liverpool may be unbeaten in 10 games in this season's competition, but they certainly haven't faced anyone of this quality - nor in the Premier League for that matter - and while they'd dearly love to extend that record and get back to Anfield at least all square, doing it will be a difficult task.
This Dortmund side sits second in the Bundesliga, still with a chance of overhauling Bayern Munich, and have won 12 of their last 13 games. The one they didn't win was a goalless draw - with their title rivals.
Essentially they are bang in form whereas Liverpool have spluttered along all season, looking good one game only to take a step backwards the following week.
So while I wouldn't completely rule out Liverpool - especially with Philippe Coutinho in such fine form - even if Klopp does manage to get a top-level performance out of his men, they look up against it here.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been frightening defences for some time now and is very much on the radar of some of Europe's richest clubs.
After getting stuck into Spurs in the last round, the Gabon striker has seven Europa League goals this season (only Bilbao's Artiz Adruiz has more) but there is also plenty of other goal threat in behind with the likes of Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan a real menace.
prodirect soccer Liverpool's backline hasn't stood up well this season, particularly away from home. They've managed just three clean sheets in 11 away games in 2016, conceding four at Norwich and three, last month, at Southampton.
While Klopp will likely look to shore things up and keep it tight, the absence of holding midfielder Lucas Leiva is a blow on that front.
Essentially, I'm firmly behind Dortmund here and expect their quality to win the day. The way I'm going to side with them is on the Asian handicap where they are a shade of odds-on on the -1 line.
That means if they win by one, it's money back. If they win by two or more, the bet lands.
A look at their results against top opposition gives plenty of reason to believe they will cover the handicap.
While they were held at home by Bayern, they've beaten all the other members of the Bundesliga's top five by at least two clear goals, while in the knockout stages of the Europa League, Porto and Spurs have also gone the same way.
There's an argument to say Liverpool shouldn't event be ranked in such company so I can certainly see them going the same way.
Soccer Cleats US11 Moving on, I'm tempted by Shakhtar Donetsk, who head to Portugal to take on Braga.
Donetsk, 8-1 winners over Metalist Kharkiv in their domestic league on last weekend, have coped admirably with the sale of Alex Teixeira in the January transfer window and have recently posted away Europa League wins at Schalke (3-0) and Anderlecht (1-0).
Impressive counter-attacking was displayed in those games with Taison a real eyecatcher.
Braga have been less impressive and come into this one on the back of a 5-1 thrashing by Benfica. They would have gone out in the last 32 had Sion scored with a last-minute header which crashed off their crossbar and although they beat Fenerbahce 4-1 at their quarry ground in the last round, they only took control in the latter stages when the Turks went down to 10 men and ended with just eight.
Donetsk are a step up for sure and at 2/1 are worth consideration for a first-leg win.
Mercurial Superfly V What concerns me backing them at this stage are fitness doubts surrounding Taison and Yaroslav Rakitskiy. Vyacheslav Shevchuk is already out. It's therefore probably one bet which is worth waiting to place until the team news is known.
Mercurial Superfly Camo Instead I'll take a punt in the Villarreal v Sparta Prague tie where the visitors appear a little underrated.
Villarreal's strong home record has long been known by followers of this competition and this season they played five, won five at El Madrigal, conceding no goals whatsoever.
However, Sparta have proved a real breath of fresh air in the Europa League this term and they remain unbeaten after 12 games. They've won their last three on the road too, including a highly-impressive 3-0 victory at Lazio in the last round.
Their strength is going forward with the experienced David Lafata a potent threat and midfield creator Borek Dockal leading a host of younger players maturing together nicely. I doubt they will be content to simply sit back for the entire game. At the very least they will look to mount dangerous counter-attacks, just as they did in Rome.
Mercurial Superfly white black Villarreal will be missing Antonio Rukavina from their regular back four due to suspension so that is another reason to fancy Sparta to find the target.
Whether they can keep Villarreal out at the other end remains to be seen though.
Cedric Bakambu has impressed in this competition, while Denis Suarez has been another regular danger for the Yellow Submarine, who have got stuck into some big sides on this ground of late.
Newest soccer cleats They scored twice against Barcelona recently and did the same against a good Bayer Leverkusen side. Prior to that Levante were beaten 3-0 and go back earlier in the season and you find Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao also conceded at least twice at El Madrigal.
I'm therefore tempted by the 3/1 on offer about Villarreal winning and both teams scoring. The money has come, perhaps not surprisingly given the stats, for another win to nil. But the odds aren't doing justice to Sparta, who look capable of putting up a decent fight and at least giving themselves some hope heading into the second leg.
