AEK Athen host Brighton & Hove Albion at Agia Sophia Stadium in Group B of 2023-24 UEFA Europa League.
Victory would see AEK Athens move up to second in the group on their head-to-head record, whilst Brighton could go top with a win if Marseille lose elsewhere.
Team News
AEK Athens have no fresh injury concerns to report after their domestic win over PAS Giannina.
Djibril Sidibe, Mijat Gacinovic, Ezequiel Ponce and Nordin Amrabat are all one booking away from an one-match ban.
Brighton will be without Ansu Fati after the on-loan forward suffered a calf injury during their league win at Nottingham Forest.
Lewis Dunk and Mahmoud Dahoud are available because their bans only apply to domestic matches, whilst Igor (fitness), James Milner (muscle) and Kaoru Mitoma (unspecified) are set to return.
Tariq Lamptey, Pervis Estupinan, Danny Welbeck (all muscle), Adam Webster (unspecified), Solly March and Julio Enciso (both knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
AEK Athens host Brighton at Agia Sophia Stadium at 7:45pm EET (5:45pm UK Time) on Thursday 30 November, live on TNT Sport 2 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- AEK Athens won their only previous meeting against Brighton by a 3-2 result in September 2023.
- Brighton are visiting AEK Athens for the first time in their history in a competitive fixture.
- Only one of AEK Athens’ five goals in this group was scored at home.
- Three of Brighton’s four away goals in this group were scored in the second half.
Prediction
After three disappointing results, AEK Athens know that victory is absolutely imperative if they want to put their fate in their own hands in their final group match, so they will need to play with the same spirit and intensity which saw them win at Brighton in September.
Brighton meanwhile know that they can put the pressure off them with a win to wrap up qualification but they must tighten up defensively again, especially after how they clinically fought back to win at Forest after being hit on the counter-attack.
Roberto De Zerbi also should be glad that Dunk is available as the spine of their defence given Brighton’s injury crisis, but there is enough quality for them to beat AEK Athens if continue to play the way that they’re doing.
Prediction: AEK Athens 1-2 Brighton
Result: AEK Athens 0-1 Brighton
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