Brighton kick off the league phase of their 2026-27 UEFA Conference League campaign against Kauno Zalgiris.
Fabian Hurzeler’s Seagulls overcame Tromso in the play-offs to secure their spot in this stage of the play-offs, whilst Zalgiris drops into this stage of the competition after their Europa League Play-Off loss to Besiktas.
Team News
Pascal Struijk will be rested for Brighton as he continues to fully recover from his hamstring injury suffered in the international break, despite having featured in their 2-0 Premier League win at Sunderland last weekend.
Jack Hinshelwood (ankle) and Zadok Yohanna (unspecified) are also set to be in contention – subject to late fitness checks.
Yankuba Minteh (leg), Stefanos Tzimas, Mats Wieffer (both knee), Femi Azeez, Kaoru Mitoma (both hamstring) and Evan Ferguson (ankle) remain absent.
Zalgiris have no fresh injury or suspension concerns to report.
When is Kick-Off?
Brighton host Zalgiris at AMEX Stadium on Thursday 15 October at 8pm BST, live on TNT Sports 2 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- This is Brighton’s first-ever meeting against Kauno Zalgiris in all competitions.
- Zalgiris are making their first-ever trip to Brighton.
- This is Brighton’s first clash against an Lithuanian club.
- Zalgiris are facing English opposition for the first time in any UEFA competition.
Prediction
With only Getafe and Monaco capable of troubling Brighton amongst their six league phase fixtures, I strongly expect Brighton to be favourites for a top-eight finish but they can’t afford to underestimate their opposition and be as clinical as they were at Sunderland.
Kauno Zalgiris meanwhile will look at this as a free hit given their underdog status but they ideally need to defend well and be clinical up front, otherwise this could be a long evening and more so if they concede first.
Brighton manager, Fabian Hurzeler though will likely rotate his line-up but I expect them to get a routine result.
Prediction: Brighton 2-0 Kauno Zalgiris