Brighton-AEK Athens is a match for the first day of the Europa League group stage and will be played on Thursday at 21:00: tv, predictions.
Fifth place in the standings after five matches, 12 points from 15 available and the best attack in the league with fifteen goals scored. Roberto De Zerbi and his Brighton side are enjoying a truly magical moment, one that has actually continued unabated since last year. The disposals of a few staples such as Mac Allister, Colwill and Caicedo do not seem to have weakened the team led by the Italian coach, capable of bringing the Seagulls to play in a European competition for the first time.
In England the ‘De Zerbi-mania’ broke out: everyone is crazy for the coach from Brescia, the real ‘secret’ of Brighton according to most of the insiders. Having landed on the English South Coast last year, De Zerbi has managed to win everyone over in just a few months, in terms of both play and results. Picking up Graham Potter’s legacy was by no means easy, but he has even done better than his predecessor, who at the time had decided to say yes to Chelsea’s offer, which arrived at the end of the season. Brighton therefore arrive at their first historic continental engagement in high spirits: last Saturday, in the Premier League, they brought home their fourth win in five games, going on to win (dominating) at Old Trafford against Manchester United (1-3).
It will be interesting, now, to see how they manage the double commitment. The Seagulls have landed in a tough group, which also includes Ajax, Marseille and Aek Athens.
Moukoudi
The first to visit the Amex Stadium will be the Greek champions, who find themselves in the Europa League after losing the Champions League play-off to Belgium’s Antwerp. Led by former Lazio and Parma midfielder Matias Almeyda, the Gialloneri stand as potential outsiders. In the league, meanwhile, they are limping along a bit: perhaps conditioned by their European exertions, they have already lost a few points, collecting two draws and one victory. In the last round they played a direct confrontation with Olympiacos, which ended 1-1. Almeyda will travel to Brighton without several players: in addition to Gacinovic, Fernandes and Pizarro, Vida will also be missing.
The prediction
We don’t feel like going against this Brighton side, although De Zerbi is bound to make a few changes. We therefore imagine a convincing victory for the English, in a match where the total goals should be at least three.
Brighton v AEK Athens likely line-up
- BRIGHTON (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Veltman, van Hecke, Dunk, Lamptey; Dahoud, Gross; Adingra, Joao Pedro, Ansu Fati; Ferguson.
- AEK ATHENS (4-4-2): Stankovic; Rota, Mitoglou, Moukoudi, Mohammadi; Eliasson, Szymanski, Jonsson, Amrabat; Araujo, Ponce.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1
