West Ham fans celebrate Europa Conference League win
Liverpool, West Ham and Brighton will all be on the hunt for European glory this season following the draw for the Europa League. The Merseyside giants were chosen to face LASK, Union SG and Toulouse in Group E and have been named as favourites to lift the trophy after dropping into the second tier of European competition.
Liverpool have been in three Champions League finals over the last three seasons but could only muster a fifth-place Premier League finish last time around. But Jurgen Klopp will be confident of getting his hands on another trophy following Friday’s draw in Monaco.
Brighton, meanwhile, secured their position in the Europa League following a sixth-place top-flight finish but have been handed the Group of Death as they will face Ajax and Marseille as well as AEK Athens in Group B.
West Ham earnt their place after winning the Europa Conference League in June and will face-off with Olympiacos, Freiburg and TSC Backa Topola in Group A. Meanwhile, Rangers have been drawn in Group C alongside Real Betis, Sparta Praha and Aris Limassol after missing out on a place in the Champions League.
Europa League matches are set to get underway on Thursday, September 21, with the final taking place at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Wednesday, May 22 2024.
Thanks for following today's Europa League live draw. It's sure to be another tasty season of European football. Good luck to all the teams in the competition and have fun following your team this campaign.
So what do we make of that draw then? Liverpool’s passage through to the knockout stages appears to be straight forward with their draw, while West Ham will also fancy their chances of progressing from Group A.
Brighton, meanwhile, have been given the Group of Death as they will face Ajax and Marseille as well as AEK Athens. And Rangers could find it tough against Real Betis, who finished ahead of Manchester United in the group stages last season.
TSC Backa Topola complete Group A, with AEK Athens taking the final spot in Group B. Aris Limassol are handed a place in Group C and Rakow Czestochowa will play in Group D.
Meanwhile, Toulouse are in Group E, while Panathinaikos will ply their trade in Group F. Servette are the penultimate team out of the pot and will play in Group G, with Hacken completing the draw by being placed in Group H.
Freiburg are out of the pot first in Group A, with Premier League giants Brighton being placed in Group B. It’s Group C for Sparta Praha and Group E for Union SG.
Elsewhere, Maccabi Haifa are drawn in Group F and Sturm Graz get Group D. Sheriff Tiraspol will form part of Group G and Molde will play in Group H.
Olympiacos will join Group A, while Marseille have been drawn in Group B. Real Betis have come out in Group C, with Sporting taking their place in Group D.
Meanwhile, LASK are in Group E and Rennes have been drawn in Group F. It’s Group G for Slavia Praha and Group H for Qarabag.
TNT presenter Matt Smith and BBC pundit Alex Scott are presenting the draw in Monaco. They have already been joined on stage by two-time Europa League winner Stephane Mbia and Champions League winner John O’Shea ahead of the draw.
Liverpool have impressed in the Champions League in recent years and are huge favourites at 4/1 to win this season’s Europa League, according to bet365. Brighton are the surprising second favourites at 12/1, with West Ham priced at 20/1 and Rangers priced as 66/1 outsiders.
The knockout matches are due to get underway next February, with the Europa League final being played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Wednesday, May 22 2024.
Knockout round play-offs: Thursday, February 15 and Thursday, February 22
Round of 16: Thursday, March 7 and Thursday, March 14
Quarter-finals: Thursday, April 11 and Thursday, April 18
The Europa League pots were decided based on teams’ coefficient rankings.
Teams from the same associations will not be drawn together in the same group. Some teams from the same country have been paired together, which means they cannot play matches at the same time. The pairings are based on TV audiences.
Of the 32 teams in the competition, 12 qualified automatically, 10 came through the Europa League play-offs and 10 transferred from the Champions League play-offs or the Europa League third qualifying round play-offs.
There are some big teams in this season’s Europa League, with the likes of Villarreal, Roma and Ajax all playing in the competition alongside the Premier League giants. Bayer Leverkusen, Atalanta and Sporting will also be on the hunt for silverware.
Good morning and welcome to Express Sport's live coverage of today's Europa League draw. The draw is taking place in Monaco and gets underway at midday.
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