Sports Mole previews Thursday’s Europa League clash between Brighton & Hove Albion and AEK Athens, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Brighton & Hove Albion will kick off their first ever European campaign on Thursday, when they meet AEK Athens in their opening Europa League group-stage match.
The Seagulls find themselves in the group stage of Europe’s secondary competition after last season’s sixth-placed Premier League finish, while their visitors dropped out of Champions League qualifying after winning the Greek Super League last time around.
Match preview
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Brighton & Hove Albion find themselves in the Europa League group stage for the first time in their history thanks to a historic season in the Premier League last time around, despite experiencing concerns as manager Graham Potter departed for Chelsea in September.
Those fears were quashed, though, as the Seagulls only went from strength to strength following the appointment of his replacement Roberto De Zerbi, who led them for the remaining 32 matches, in which they amassed 49 points including 14 victories to pip Aston Villa to the final Europa League spot on offer in England’s top flight.
Following that record-high top division finish, the South Coast outfit have picked up where they left off in the new league campaign, as they initially headed into the first international break with nine points from four matches courtesy of victories over Luton Town, Wolverhampton Wanderers alongside a solitary defeat to West Ham United.
On their return to action following the break, the Seagulls travelled to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United on Saturday, and they continued their eye-catching start to the season with a 3-1 victory, having gone three goals up through Danny Welbeck, Pascal Gross and Joao Pedro, moving fifth as a result and establishing their attacking record as the best in the Premier League at this early stage, having already scored 15 goals as part of their 12 points from five outings.
Now with momentum firmly on their side and excitement growing around the club ahead of a debut European campaign, which begins on home turf, Brighton will be desperate to make a fast start on Thursday and kick off the group stage with a three-point haul.
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They welcome an AEK Athens side who have already been involved in continental action this term, having earned entry into the third round of Champions League qualifying thanks to their triumphant Greek Super League campaign last time around, in which they won their 13th top-flight title, eventually pipping Panathinaikos to top spot in the playoff round with 83 points from their 36 matches.
That saw the Double-Headed Eagle return to the European stage for the first time since an unsuccessful Europa Conference League qualifying bid in 2021, and Matias Almeyda‘s side marked it with a hard-fought aggregate win in the third qualifying round, scraping past Dinamo Zagreb having won 2-1 in Croatia and come from behind to draw 2-2 on home turf, with Sergio Araujo and Domagoj Vida netting the decisive goals in injury time to book them a spot in the playoff round against the odds.
Following that late triumph, which guaranteed them at least Europa League group-stage football, only Royal Antwerp stood between the Greek outfit and Europe’s top competition, but Almeyda’s side were unable to progress, suffering a 1-0 first-leg defeat in Belgium before being beaten 2-1 in the reverse fixture at the end of August, with Araujo’s late goal not enough to force another comeback.
Such a result saw the Double-Headed Eagle drop into the Europa League, and they now head into the tough opening trip to England on the back of a positive pair of league results, firstly triumphing 3-2 away at Volos thanks to an injury-time winner from Nordin Amrabat before most recently playing out a 1-1 draw with giants Olympiacos at the weekend, having initially gone ahead through Ezequiel Ponce, leaving them on five points from three outings at the start of their Super League defence.
Now taking on a heavily-fancied Brighton side, Almeyda’s men will look to cause somewhat of an upset on their travels on Thursday to quickly get their group campaign up and running ahead of meetings with Ajax and Marseille next month.
Brighton & Hove Albion form (all competitions):
AEK Athens form (all competitions):
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Team News
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While we are yet to see how Roberto De Zerbi will balance his side across league and continental action, we should expect a strong Seagulls starting XI with some potential rotations from the win over Manchester United, with winger Julio Enciso remaining sidelined through injury, likely alongside key men Pervis Estupinan and Solly March, both of whom also missed the trip to Old Trafford.
Evan Ferguson should come back in from the outset to lead the line, after his substitute appearance on Saturday, having already netted four Premier League goals so far this term including a hat-trick against Newcastle United, while summer signing Joao Pedro also came off the bench and scored his second of the term and should also start in support of the 18-year-old Irish international.
Barcelona loanee Ansu Fati will likely be handed a first start for the club on the wing after earning a debut at the weekend, while Mahmoud Dahoud and Pascal Gross should again partner up in the engine room, with Lewis Dunk and Jan Paul van Hecke again set to operate at the heart of the defence in front of whichever stopper is preferred out of Jason Steele and Bart Verbruggen, both of whom have seen English top-flight action already this term.
AEK Athens have several injury concerns to deal with ahead of their trip to Brighton, with Mijat Gacinovic, Paolo Fernandes and Rodolfo Pizarro sidelined, while experienced defender Domagoj Vida was forced off at half time of their recent meeting with Olympiacos and may not be deemed fit to start.
Aside from the Croatian’s potential absence, Almeyda may look to field an unchanged starting XI from that contest, albeit with a decision to make in attack as Petros Mantalos will return to contention to challenge Sergio Araujo after serving a suspension last time out, with whoever is preferred bound to join Ezequiel Ponce, who netted his first goal for the club at the weekend following a summer arrival from Elche, while Nordin Amrabat is also hoping to feature from the start in an attacking capacity.
Elsewhere, Damian Szymanski and Jens Jonsson will hope to fight off competition from the likes of Orbelin Pineda to keep their places in midfield, while if Vida is ruled out of Thursday’s trip, Gerasimos Mitoglou will likely come in to join Harold Moukoudi at the heart of the back four from the outset.
Brighton & Hove Albion possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Veltman, Van Hecke, Dunk, Lamptey; Dahoud, Gross; Adingra, Pedro, Fati; Ferguson
AEK Athens possible starting lineup:
Stankovic; Rota, Mitoglou, Moukoudi, Mohammadi; Eliasson, Szymanski, Jonsson, Amrabat; Araujo, Ponce
We say: Brighton & Hove Albion 3-0 AEK Athens
Brighton should certainly be up for their Europa League debut on home turf, and they have the quality to comfortably see AEK Athens off on Thursday and begin in style with three points.
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