Brighton & Hove Albion will kick off their first ever European campaign on Thursday night, when they meet AEK Athens in their opening Europa League group-stage match at the Amex stadium. The hosts are playing in a UEFA-affiliated competition for the first time in their history, after finishing sixth in the Premier League standings last season. 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. Goals from Danny Welbeck, Pascal Groß, and João Pedro helped them record a 3-1 away win over Manchester United in the Premier League in their last game. Meanwhile, AEK Athens side 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 season, 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. They were held to a 1-1 draw by Olympiakos in the Super League Greece in their last outing. For this encounter, I am expecting a win by some margin for Brighton for the following reasons:

Firstly. Brighton head into their first European match in good form, having won two games in a row. They are one of the six teams making their debut in the group stage of the Europa League this season. They have looked sharp in the Premier League this season, recording four wins in five games, and will look to continue that form in this match. Brighton have also garnered confidence with recent results, especially the Manchester United one. They will want to start this campaign with a win as the other teams are very tough, with Marseille and Ajax also part of their group.

Secondly. AEK Athens scraped their way from the third qualifying round of the Champions league to first get a hard-fought win over Dinamo Zagreb. 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. They don’t have a decent form at the moment. They were winless in five of the last six matches across all competitions, as the team drew two of their three domestic fixtures.

Roberto De Zerbi’s side have won four of their five games so far, scoring an impressive 15 goals and laying down a marker for other top teams in the Premier League. With such an attacking force and the good form they are in right now, I am expecting them to get a win tonight by at least a two-goals margin.

布莱顿和霍夫阿尔比将在周四晚上开始他们的第一次欧洲之旅，届时他们将在美国运通体育场举行的欧联杯小组赛首场比赛中对阵雅典AEK。这是东道主历史上第一次参加与欧足联有关的比赛，上赛季他们在英超联赛排名第六。由于上赛季在英超联赛中取得了历史性的成绩，布莱顿和霍夫阿尔比恩历史上第一次进入了欧联杯小组赛，尽管主教练格雷厄姆波特在9月份离开了切尔西，这让他们感到担忧。然而，这些担忧都被打消了，因为在他的继任者罗伯托·德泽比的任命后，海鸥队的实力越来越强，德泽比带领他们在剩下的32场比赛中取得了49分，其中14场胜利，击败了阿斯顿维拉，进入了英格兰顶级联赛的最后一个欧联杯席位。丹尼·维尔贝克、帕斯卡尔·格罗斯和约<e:1>奥·佩德罗的进球帮助他们在英超的最后一场比赛中客场3-1战胜曼联。与此同时，AEK雅典队本赛季已经参加了欧洲大陆的比赛，由于上赛季希腊超级联赛的胜利，他们赢得了第13个顶级联赛冠军，最终在36场比赛中以83分的成绩击败帕纳辛奈科斯队，进入了欧洲冠军联赛的第三轮预选赛。在上一场希腊超级联赛中，他们被奥林匹亚科斯1-1逼平。对于这场比赛，我预计布莱顿会以一定的优势取胜，原因如下:

首先。布莱顿以良好的状态进入他们的第一场欧洲比赛，他们已经取得了两连胜。他们是本赛季在欧联杯小组赛首次亮相的六支球队之一。他们在本赛季的英超联赛中表现出色，在5场比赛中取得了4场胜利，并希望在这场比赛中继续保持这种状态。布莱顿也在最近的比赛中获得了信心，尤其是与曼联的比赛。他们希望以一场胜利开始这个赛季，因为其他球队都很强硬，马赛和阿贾克斯也是他们小组的一部分。

其次。雅典AEK勉强从欧冠资格赛第三轮出线，首先艰难战胜萨格勒布迪纳摩。在最后一场胜利之后，这支希腊球队至少确保了他们能够进入欧联杯小组赛，只有安特卫普皇家队与欧洲顶级赛事保持着距离，但阿尔梅达的球队未能晋级，首回合在比利时以1比0惨败，8月底在逆转赛中以2比1被击败，阿劳霍最后时刻的进球也不足以让他们再次卷土重来。他们现在的状态不太好。在所有赛事的最后六场比赛中，他们有五场没有获胜，因为他们在三场国内比赛中有两场平局。

迄今为止，罗伯托·德泽比的球队赢得了五场比赛中的四场，打进了令人印象深刻的15个进球，为英超其他顶级球队奠定了基础。凭借这样的进攻力量和他们现在的良好状态，我希望他们今晚能以至少两球的优势取胜。