Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool have already secured their places in the group stages of the Champions League and Europa League thanks to their finishing positions in the Premier League last season, but three other British clubs still have the opportunity to join them.

On Friday, Manchester United and Celtic will feature in the playoff draw for the Champions League after both missed out last year, while Southampton, who are featuring in European competition for the first time since 2003, are one game away from securing a place among a competitive lineup in the Europa League.

Below, Sports Mole takes a look at who each team could be paired with later on Friday.

1. Manchester United

When Manchester United secured fourth place in last year's Premier League, they were soon considered certainties to come through one two-legged qualifying tie, but given their list of possible foes, they still have work to do if they want to return to European football's top table.

Italian giants Lazio will be the club that Louis van Gaal would most like to avoid. While United would be favourites to prevail, there would be little margin for error against a team who finished in third place in Italy last season and boast the talents of Felipe Anderson, who is attracting the attention of some of Europe's biggest sides.

AS Monaco would also provide tough opposition but they have lost both Geoffrey Kondogbia and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco during the summer. CSKA Moscow would be taxing where travelling is concerned, but with neighbours Manchester City having played them in consecutive campaigns, they will not throw up many surprises.

United will be hoping that they are pulled out against either Club Brugge or Rapid Vienna. Both teams have some form after beating Panathinaikos and Ajax in the last round, but neither of them would pose a huge threat.

2. Celtic

After their failure to make the group stage during for 2014-15, Celtic are determined to atone for that disappointment by progressing through to the last 32 this time around, but they still have a potentially tricky tie to overcome before they can look forward to three months among the elite.

On paper, Celtic will be backed to beat any of their possible five opponents but the travelling and playing conditions in the away leg could prove to be the equaliser. They will be keen to avoid a trip to Kazakhstan to face Astana, where both factors could take their toll, while journeys to Serbia or Israel to play Partizan or Maccabi Tel Aviv will not be favoured.

A tie with either Malmo or Skenderbeu will appeal to Ronny Deila. It was only two years ago when Malmo thrashed Hibernian 9-0 on aggregate in the second qualifying round but a return to Scandinavia may benefit Deila, who has knowledge of the game in that part of the world.

Albanian champions Skenderbeu have never reached the main stages of a European competition in their history, with their best effort being a playoff defeat in the Europa League in 2013.

3. Southampton

Southampton had been provided with a tricky tie in the third qualifying round but after seeing off Dutch side Vitesse 5-0 on aggregate, they are being backed to have a run in the competition. They will be relatively happy with the list of potential opponents too, but they could face a team who have already proven too strong for a pair of British sides over the past month.

Romanian outfit Astra Giurgiu have seen off both Inverness Caledonian Thistle and West Ham United to move within a round of a second successive appearance in the group stages. The Saints would not necessarily fear them, but they will undoubtedly prefer to be paired with one of the other five teams in their section.

Three of those clubs hail from Scandinavia, with HJK Helsinki the highest non-seed after missing out in Champions League qualifying to Astana. Danish side Midtjylland suffered the same fate, losing to APOEL on away goals, but they are not the same team that featured in a group involving Chelsea in the 2012-13 edition of the competition.

Southampton would take a trip to Norwegian side Odds BK, but they will be keen to avoid a trip to Azerbaijan to play Qabala. FC Thun of Switzerland make up the list of potential opponents, and from a logistical perspective, they would be ideal for Ronald Koeman's men.