A bit more on the pre-match bother at Villa Park … and on that downer, we’ll close this Clocko. Thanks for reading.
Jurgen Klopp talks to TNT. “Most important, we head the group and that will not change so that is good … a lot of good stuff … some stuff I didn’t like too much … this game should have been to bed before half time … if you are in charge, kill it, and we didn’t do that … we opened up the game a bit … we gave them chances and let Caoimhin make a few saves … nice for him but I don’t need it! … it’s his first clean sheet … defensively we were extremely strong … we lost rhythm … we go to Union Saint-Gilloise to win but it’s good that we don’t have to … we are not short of games, so it’s all fine … Conor [Bradley] with just a few moments in the game you can see immediately that he’s a real talent, a real prospect for us … Luke [Chambers] as well … we could have brought back Kaide Gordon who is finally back in full training and looks super … there is a lot of positives … sometimes when you are a real talent like Conor or Stefan Bajcetic, for example, you are ready footballing-wise, but the body still needs to grow into the intensity … we have to make sure we don’t overdo it.”
TNT also report that Ollie Watkins, missing today, has only suffered a minor injury in training. He should be back sooner rather than later.
Unai Emery speaks to TNT. “I am very happy … our reaction was fantastic … were are not 100 percent first in the group, but normally we will be … at Villa Park we are feeling very good, supported and strong … we started well … they were motivated … the second half our control was better than the first half … we deserved to win … we have more players ready to play minutes to play the team … for us [this trophy] is very important.”
Philippe Clement justifies his first-half replacement of Todd Cantwell with Ross McCausland to TNT: “We were not incisive enough … Todd was coming into the ball all the time and that was not the idea … we wanted more width … it is an impossible job to have all 28 happy, it is 11 places … there is no problem with Todd, he did a good job in the last couple of weeks … today it was not so good … we are a team … Ross McCausland showed some really good things during the last couple of weeks.”
Andy Hunter was at Anfield tonight. His report is in.
All the full-times
Group A
Backa Topola 0-1 West Ham United
SC Freiburg 5-0 Olympiakos
Group B
AEK Athens 0-1 Brighton & Hove Albion
Marseille 4-3 Ajax
Group C
Sparta Prague 1-0 Real Betis
Rangers 1-1 Aris Limassol
Group D
Atalanta 1-1 Sporting Lisbon
SK Sturm Graz 0-1 Raków Czestochowa
Group E
Liverpool 4-0 LASK
Toulouse 0-0 Union Saint-Gilloise
Group F
Maccabi Haifa 0-3 Rennes
Villarreal 3-2 Panathinaikos
Group G
Servette 1-1 Roma
Sheriff Tiraspol 2-3 Slavia Prague
Group H
Häcken 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Molde 2-2 Qarabag
Plus! Europa Conference League Group E
Aston Villa 2-1 Legia Warsaw
This is how Group C now looks …
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Betis | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Rangers | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | Sparta Prague | 5 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | Aris Limassol | 5 | -4 | 4 |
… and here’s confirmation of Liverpool winning Group E.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 5 | 11 | 12 |
| 2 | Toulouse | 5 | -2 | 8 |
| 3 | Union Saint Gilloise | 5 | -4 | 5 |
| 4 | LASK | 5 | -5 | 3 |
FULL TIME: Rangers 1-1 Aris Limassol
The Light Blues booed off again, albeit with less intensity than earlier. A win would have confirmed a top-two finish in the group, but they couldn’t get it. They’ll go to Real Betis knowing only a win will guarantee them progression … though Aris could do them a favour against Sparta Prague in the other game.
FULL TIME: Aston Villa 2-1 Legia Warsaw
Villa can’t find the third goal that would have won the group tonight. But they do go top of Group E, and a point at Zrinjski in a fortnight will ensure they’ll stay there and go through to the last 16 automatically.
FULL TIME: Toulouse 0-0 Union Saint-Gilloise. The result means Liverpool win Group E and qualify automatically for the round of 16. No knockout-round play-off for Jurgen Klopp, who can now rest a few players on matchday six if he so chooses.
FULL TIME: Liverpool 4-0 LASK
The whistle goes at Anfield. Now Liverpool have to nervously wait to see whether Union Saint-Gilloise can hold on for a draw at Toulouse. That game’s gone into the 90th minute.
GOAL! Liverpool 4-0 LASK (Gakpo 90+2)
Trent Alexander-Arnold finds Cody Gakpo in the box with a glorious right-to-left diagonal pass. Gakpo takes a touch inside before unleashing an unstoppable drive into the top right.
Updated
Leon Bailey is this close to getting that goal for Villa! He lobs the stranded Kacper Tobiasz, the ball surely sailing into the unguarded net. But instead of dropping in, the ball somehow crashes onto the underside of the crossbar, down onto the line, and away! The referee checks his watch. It counts under 1966 World Cup final rules, but not today’s.
Updated
Neither Rangers nor Aston Villa are getting particularly close in their quests for the goal that would change everything. The clock ticks on.
Another fine contribution from Caoimhin Kelleher at Anfield. A free kick comes in from the left. Robert Žulj back-flicks it towards the bottom right; the keeper reacts well to claw away. It’s still 3-0.
Villa are still searching for the third goal that would ensure safe passage to the last 16 of the Conference League. Jacob Ramsey comes close after cutting in from the left and curling inches wide of the left-hand post.
Moses Usor whistles a shot towards the bottom-right corner of Caoimhin Kelleher’s goal. The keeper parries away confidently. Meanwhile it’s still goalless between Toulouse and Union Saint-Gilloise in the other game, so as things stand, Liverpool will win the group and go through to the round of 16 with a game to spare. Can Toulouse find a winner that would take things to matchday six?
Rangers are pressing for a winner as they look for the goal that would guarantee a top-two finish in the group. James Tavernier has a shot parried by Vana.
Ross McCausland goes on a purposeful dribble down the right. He glides into the box and looks to have made enough space to shoot from 12 yards … only for his eventual effort to be blocked by Cajú, extending a leg from nowhere. That was a magnificent run that got the Ibrox crowd off their seats. Penny for the thoughts of Todd Cantwell right now.
That unpleasant business at Villa Park. Now in news form. More details here.
Danilo comes very close to giving Rangers the lead at Ibrox. He’s found clear in the box with a shovelled cross from the right, but can’t quite get his head to the ball with Aris keeper Vaná all over the shop. Any touch and he’d have knocked it past the walkabout keeper and in.
Caoimhin Kelleher hasn’t had much to do this evening. But Alisson’s stand-in does extremely well to deny Ibrahim Mustapha, found clear down the middle. Mustapha tries to round the keeper on the left, but Kelleher stands firm and smothers the eventual shot.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Legia Warsaw (Moreno 58)
A free kick swung in from a deep position on the right. Álex Moreno meets the dropping ball on the edge of the six-yard box, opens his body, and powers a sidefoot home. One more goal now, and Villa will be through to the round of 16!
Updated
Liverpool make some interesting changes. Mo Salah, Luis Diaz and Ibrahima Konate make way for Trent Alexander-Arnold, Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones. Nunez is quickly in the thick of it, slamming a shot from six yards straight at Tobias Lawal. Stunning save, though file under Should Never Have Been Allowed To Make It. He’d recently stopped a Harvey Elliott piledriver too. Chances are this won’t stay at 3-0; Salah will stop at 199 goals for the club tonight, though, and will have to wait for his double century. Fulham at the weekend, perhaps?
GOAL! Rangers 1-1 Aris (McCausland 49)
Philippe Clement vindicated! Ross McCausland, brought on for Todd Cantwell midway through the first half, justifies the tactical change. Danilo wins the ball 30 yards out, and slips wide right to McCausland, who drops a shoulder to enter the box before sending a forensic effort across the keeper, off the base of the left-hand post, and in!
Updated
Cody Gakpo threads a shot through a crowded box. The ball kisses the outside of the left-hand post and out for a goal kick.
Villa nearly fall behind … then nearly go ahead … against Legia Warsaw. Josué’s diving header loops over Robin Olsen and pings off the top of the crossbar. The home side counters at pace, Moussa Diaby driving in from the right and attempting a dink over keeper Kacper Tobiasz, who sticks out a strong arm to block.
GOAL! Liverpool 3-0 LASK (Salah 51 pen)
It’s Mohamed Salah’s 199th goal for Liverpool. He whips a penalty into the bottom right. It had been awarded after Cody Gakpo played a pass down the inside-left channel to nobody in particular. He chased after it himself, and got to the ball before keeper Tobias Lawal, who clumsily clattered into the striker.
Updated
The Rangers game is underway again. Philippe Clement had sent his team out early for the second half, clearly as unhappy with the team as the supporters were.
Second halves are kicking off around Europe. Liverpool should already have added to their tally against LASK, with both Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo messing up decent opportunities.
Some miserable news from Villa Park, courtesy of PA.
Police have been injured after violence from Legia Warsaw fans ahead of their game at Aston Villa. Missiles were thrown at police as the visiting fans were held in the coach park near Villa Park. Three police have been injured but the game started on time, although no Legia fans were allowed into the stadium ahead of kick-off.
A Birmingham Police statement on X read: “We’re currently unable to allow away fans into Villa Park following disorder outside the stadium which has seen missiles thrown at officers. Three officers have already been injured and a significant policing operation continues. Please avoid Witton Lane where possible.”
Two Premier League clubs have already secured their passage to the knockout stage of the Europa League. Brighton recovered from a poor first-half showing to see off AEK Athens …
… while West Ham United left it late against Backa Topola.
Half-time scores
Group B
Marseille 2-2 Ajax
Group C
Rangers 0-1 Aris Limassol
Group E
Liverpool 2-0 LASK
Toulouse 0-0 Union Saint-Gilloise
Group F
Villarreal 2-0 Panathinaikos
Group G
Servette 0-1 Roma
Sheriff Tiraspol 1-1 Slavia Prague
Group H
Häcken 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Molde 0-1 Qarabag
Plus! Europa Conference League Group E
Aston Villa 1-1 Legia Warsaw
HALF TIME: Rangers 0-1 Aris Limassol
The denizens of Ibrox boo their team off the park. The Philippe Clement honeymoon period didn’t last long.
HALF TIME: Aston Villa 1-1 Legia Warsaw
Villa are already guaranteed to finish in the top two of their Conference League group. They’ll need to win tonight by two goals if they’re to make sure of top spot with a game to spare. As a result, Unai Emery walks off looking pensive.
HALF TIME: Liverpool 2-0 LASK
Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo scored early. Kostas Tsimikas hit the bar, while Mohamed Salah fluffed a couple of very promising chances as he sashayed in from the right. As things stand, with Union Saint-Gilloise holding Toulouse in France, Liverpool are on course to win the group and go straight through to the round of 16 with a game to spare.
Douglas Luiz and Pawel Wszołek square up to each other at Villa Park. Both look pretty angry: had they been on their own in a pub car park, hands would surely have been thrown. But team-mates and officials intervene, and both calm down before being booked for their belligerence. It’s still 1-1.
Joe Gomez hasn’t scored a goal in 223 appearances for club and country. He’s rarely come closer than this, as he channels his inner Beckenbauer, dribbling in from the right and whistling a low bobbler across goal and inches wide of the left-hand post. It remains 2-0 to Liverpool.
Blimey, Philippe Clement has already seen enough at Ibrox. He makes a tactical sub after 36 minutes, hooking Todd Cantwell and sending on Ross McCausland. Cantwell goes off shaking his head, and muttering under his breath. Jings, crivvens, help ma boab, that sort of thing.
Rangers are beginning to struggle at Ibrox. Shavy Babicka once again burns past their back line, this time down the right wing, and pulls back for Aleksandr Kokorin, who should do much better than squirting high and wide right from ten yards. Rangers breathe again.
… and almost immediately after the restart, Kostas Tsimikas nearly makes it three for Liverpool. He takes a touch in from the left and unleashes a vicious rising shot that twangs off the crossbar with Tobias Lawal in the LASK goal beaten all ends up. That would have been an absolute pearler.
Luis Díaz exchanges passes with Ryan Gravenberch down the left and enters the box. He clatters straight into Andres Andrade. Liverpool want a penalty. There was contact all right – Diaz took a knee plumb in the trouser arrangement, ooyah, oof – but it was a fair 50-50 challenge. We play on.
GOAL! Rangers 0-1 Aris Limassol (Babicka 28)
The hosts had just picked up the pace and started to cause the visitors some problems … only for a simple long pass down the middle to rip them apart on the counter. Shavy Babicka goes chasing after it, beats Ben Davies for pace, rounds Jack Butland on the right, and strokes home. What an assured finish that was.
LASK continue to pile forward. They win a corner down the left, play it short, then work the ball towards Robert Žulj on the corner of the six-yard box. Žulj flicks a first-time effort inches wide of the goal, and it’s not clear if Caoimhin Kelleher had it covered. But the flag pops up for offside anyway.
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-1 Legia Warsaw (Muci 20)
Boubacar Kamara, playing out from the back, tries to find Matty Cash on the left. He only succeeds in slapping the ball straight to Ernest Muçi, who makes no mistake in blootering a shot across Robin Olsen and in for the equaliser.
It’s still goalless at Ibrox between Rangers and Aris. Should the Light Blues win this evening, they’ll be guaranteed a top-two finish.
Liverpool are utterly rampant now. They look like adding to their total every time they go forward. LASK aren’t helping themselves by continuing to pile forward. Having said that, Moses Usor has just steamed down the left and delivered a low cross that forced Kostas Tsimikas to hook clear of the six-yard box with other white shirts lurking.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 LASK (Gakpo 15)
Gakpo makes up for his earlier miss by tapping home from close range. Diaz passed right for Salah, whose shot-cum-cross squirted past the keeper and across the face of goal for the Dutch star to sidefoot in.
Updated
Liverpool only need a draw tonight to confirm their place in the knockouts. So that’s a good start. But they’ll want to win the group, and thus advance to the last 16; for that to happen tonight, they’ll need to win while Toulouse do not. At the moment, it’s all looking good for the Reds, with the Toulouse-USG game currently goalless. But it’s very early days, of course.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 LASK (Diaz 12)
Yep, that’s settled them all right. Luis Diaz pings a cross out to the right for Joe Gomez, who returns it instantly. Diaz, having kept running, arrives from deep to steer a wonderful header into the top right!
Updated
Liverpool have made a fairly uncertain start against LASK, who have shown an eagerness to come at the hosts with attacking intent. But the first big chance of the evening falls to Jurgen Klopp’s men, Cody Gakpo shinning over from 12 yards when put through by Harvey Elliott. A settler, perhaps.
Earlier today in Villa’s group, Alkmaar beat Zrinsjki 1-0. That means they’re already guaranteed to finish in the top two. But now they’re halfway to making sure they’ll progress to the round of 16. A two-goal win will be enough for that.
GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Legia Warsaw (Diaby 4)
Villa are so hot right now, and they score with their first attack of the evening! Youri Tielemans sends Moussa Diaby away down the right. Diaby cuts infield, opens his body, and curls a shot into the bottom left. The perfect start.
Updated
FULL TIME: HJK Helsinki 2-2 Aberdeen. As the 8pms kick off, the last of the 5.45pm games comes to its conclusion. The Dons came from two goals down to draw, thanks to goals from Angus MacDonald and Duk.
The teams are out! Anfield, Ibrox and Villa Park reverberate with continental-tinged anticipation. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Updated
The big team news
Rangers: Butland, Tavernier, Souttar, Davies, Barisic, Lundstram, Cifuentes, Cantwell, Lammers, Sima, Danilo.
Subs: Dessers, Lawrence, Matondo, Sterling, Roofe, McCrorie, Kieran Wright, Devine, McCausland, McKinnon.
Aris Limassol: Vana, Yago, Mouketou-Moussounda, Urosevic, Caju, Bengtsson, Struski, Szoke, Babicka, Mayambela, Kokorin.
Subs: Brown, Spoljaric, Stepinski, Dimitriou, Brorsson, Montnor, Chrysostomou, Ellinas Sofroniou.
Rangers make three changes after the draw at Aberdeen. John Souttar, Ben Davies and Sam Lammers replace Connor Goldson, Leon Balogun and Tom Lawrence.
Liverpool: Kelleher, Quansah, Gomez, Konate, Tsimikas, Gravenberch, Endo, Elliott, Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.
Subs: van Dijk, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Mac Allister, Jones, Matip, Chambers, Marcelo, Gordon, Doak, Alexander-Arnold, Bradley.
LASK: Lawal, Ziereis, Andrade, Taloverov, Stojkovic, Horvath, Ljubic, Bello, Zulj, Usor, Ljubicic.
Subs: Renner, Kone, Balic, Jovicic, Mustapha, Havel, Ba, Goiginger, Siebenhandl, Flecker, Luckeneder, Darboe.
Liverpool make nine changes to the side named for the 1-1 draw at Manchester City last Saturday. Mohamed Salah and Kostas Tsimikas are the only players who retain their starting places. Caoimhin Kelleher starts in goal in place of the injured Alisson.
Aston Villa: Olsen, Cash, Konsa, Lenglet, Alex Moreno, McGinn, Kamara, Douglas Luiz, Tielemans, Diaby, Duran.
Subs: Martinez, Diego Carlos, Digne, Torres, Chambers, Zaniolo, Bailey, Dendoncker, Ramsey, Marschall.
Legia Warsaw: Tobiasz, Pankov, Jedrzejczyk, Kapuadi, Wszolek, Slisz, Elitim, Gil Dias, Josue, Gual, Muci.
Subs: Burch, Yuri Ribeiro, Pekhart, Augustyniak, Kramer, Celhaka, Rejczyk, Hladun, Kun, Rosolek, Kapustka, Strzalek.
Ollie Watkins is Villa’s big miss tonight. Jhon Duran takes his place up front.
Updated
Tonight's 8pm kick-offs
Group B
Marseille v Ajax
Group C
Rangers v Aris Limassol
Group E
Liverpool v LASK
Toulouse v Union Saint-Gilloise
Group F
Villarreal v Panathinaikos
Group G
Servette v Roma
Sheriff Tiraspol v Slavia Prague
Group H
Häcken v Bayer Leverkusen
Molde v Qarabag
Plus! Europa Conference League Group E
Aston Villa v Legia Warsaw
Thanks John … and congratulations to Brighton and West Ham. Now, can Liverpool and Rangers make it four out of four tonight in the Europa League? We’re about to find out.
Now, if that doesn’t sum up the magic of Thursday night Europa action, then what will? Time now to pass over to Scott Murray for the evening session. Thanks for reading so far, now time to ride the lightning.
Kari Tulinius gets in touch: “Here in Helsinki the snow is pelting down, leading the ref in HJK v Aberdeen to take the players off the field so that the snow can be plowed off the field. The teams are running on the sideline to keep warm. This deadest of dead rubbers has been surprisingly entertaining, both teams bagging two, the pick of the lot being a peach of a long range shot by Angus MacDonald, which hit the top corner."
“His shot cut through the flurries of snow pelting down here in Helsinki, to nestle in the top corner, absolutely unstoppable. This may be the deadest of dead rubbers between two teams already eliminated from the Europa Conference League, but he’ll cherish that goal alright.”
Key event
Full-time Europa League scores
Group A
Backa Topola 0-1 West Ham
Freiburg 5-0 Olympiacos
Group B
AEK Athens 0-1 Brighton
Group C
Sparta Prague 1-0 Real Betis
Group D
Atalanta 1-1 Sporting
Sturm Graz 0-1 Rakow Czestochowa
Group F
Maccabi Haifa 0-3 Rennes
Full-time: Backa Topola 0-1 West Ham
The Hammers also go through and can win their group if they avoid defeat against Freiburg. That’s 18 from 20 European matches won for the Hammers and Tomas Soucek was the man who decided it with his late goal.
Updated
Full-time: AEK 0-1 Brighton
Brighton go into the knockouts. Joao Pedro’s penalty, his fourth in Europe, drawing him level with John Wark of Ipswich and Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United for doing that in a season, was scored after he had won the spot-kick himself. An injury-hit Brighton see it through and were aided by an AEK red card.
AEK 0-1 Brighton: In the five minutes added on for Brighton, Duffus, another teenager, misses a decent chance set up by the fine defensive work of eternal teenager James Milner.
Backa Topola 0-1 West Ham: Four minutes to see out, plus change for goal celebrations.
Goal! Backa Topola 0-1 West Ham (Soucek, 89)
Soucek is in such scoring form, his fifth in five games. A fine cross from the right flank, from the left foot of Cornet and that means the Hammers claim top spot. They must only avoid defeat against Freiburg in their final group game.
Updated
Backa Topola 0-0 West Ham: The Hammers have a set piece to defend but there was not much to face in the end. Their opponents aren’t the best but have played above themselves, while the Hammers have played well below.
AEK 0-1 Brighton: Not long to see out now for Brighton, who have not played well but stayed disciplined so far.
Krishna gets in touch from Częstochowa: “From an almost suicidal pass Rakow broke and made a spectacular goal. We are winning as of now.”
Simon McMahon battles the weather to get in touch: “Hi John. Aberdeen have come from two down in Helsinki to level with HJK in the Conference league. It’s got a real throwback feel, with it snowing heavily and an orange ball being used. The players have in fact just left the pitch with 15 minutes still to play so that the pitch can be cleared, though the diggers are struggling to keep pace with the blizzard. 1500 travelling fans probably wishing they had stayed in Aberdeen, where minus four is probably quite appealing right now.”
Backa Topola 0-0 West Ham: More Moyes moaning on the bench when the ball bounces up off Cornet. James Ward-Prowse had chance to swing in a cross but nobody could get to it. The surface in Serbia doesn’t look the most even.
AEK 0-1 Brighton: James Milner has come on to add his experience in midfield. Jack Hinshelwood has moved in alongside him. Dahoud is on too, and Mitoma has departed.
Roberto De Zerbi couldn't watch Joao Pedro's penalty for Brighton... 🫣 pic.twitter.com/reWg55WDsD
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 30, 2023
Goal! Freiburg 5-0 Olympiacos (Ritsu Doan 77)
AEK 0-1 Brighton: Pineda goes close. The ten men have shown plenty of attacking intention
Updated
AEK 0-1 Brighton: The Seagulls seem well in control, though they would do well not to be drawn in by their opponents, who have decided on a scorched earth policy. Almeyda has sent on attackers, including Ponce, who scored in the meeting in Sussex. Ferguson has a chance to kill it off, but is denied by fine keeping by Stankovic, who read the striker’s intentions.
Updated
Backa Topola 0-0 West Ham: Ward-Prowse swings across the ball, Soucek is penalised. Off go Benrahma and Mubama. Danny Ings, who hasn’t scored for 23 games (!) comes on. Maxwell Cornet, equally lesser spotted, is on too.
Red card for AEK Athens!
Gacinovic, already on a yellow, shows too much of the ball to Veltman, and then goes over the ball. A red is waved, and AEK’s main threat leaves the field. AEK have let this game get away from themselves.
Krishna gets in touch: “Forget the big budget super teams, if you want to experience passion and a sense of belonging you need to visit the small towns. I am writing this from the city of Czestochowa, watching their Europa League match , where the Rakow stadium is the most visited place after the shrine of Black Madonna, Jasna Gora.”
It’s 0-0 with Sturm Graz at the moment.
AEK 0-1 Brighton: Roberto De Zerbi is not happy. Both Ferguson and Joao Pedro have been in the wars.
Goal! Atalanta 1--1 Sporting 1 (Edwards, 56)
The Englishman, such a skilful player on his day, equalises for Sporting.
Updated
Backa Topola 0-0 West Ham: This match continues to be a complete grind, with very little happening.
Goal! Sparta Prague 1-0 Real Betis (Lukas Haraslin, 54)
Goal! Maccabi Haifa 0-2 Rennes (Amine Gouiri, 47)
Goal! AEK 0-1 Brighton (Joao Pedro, (55 pen)
A kerfuffle ahead of the penalty, with AEK players trying to rough up the spot. Joao Pedro is unruffled and sends Stankovic the wrong way. Brighton have a lead from nowhere.
Updated
Penalty to Brighton!
AEK 0-0 Brighton: Verbruggen makes a good save, from Gacinovic after Igor makes a mistake in midfield. Veltman’s lunge probably put the shooter off. Then Brighton mount an attack, and there’s a VAR look, booed by fans, as the referee is called to the screen, Was Joao Pedro tripped? It looked like it.
AEK 0-0 Brighton: Chris Paraskevas gets in touch: “Only a decade ago AEK were a club with a bleak future: relegated for the first time ever in 2013 amidst great financial uncertainty. To be competing in Europe in their own stadium represents a remarkable revival.”
“After giftwrapping six points for Marseille, they’ll need to summon the traditional Ancient Greek warrior spirit tonight to flip this group again, channeling their inner Jason And The Argonauts (1963) and Xena: Warrior Princess (1995).”
Brighton need to summon their inner Pinkie Brown or Steve Foster.
Back away we go for the second halves. Might something more positive happen for England’s brave venturers?
Half-time Europa League scores
Group A
Backa Topola 0-0 West Ham
Freiburg 4-0. Olympiacos
Group B
AEK Athens 0-0 Brighton
Group C
Sparta Prague 0-0 Real Betis
Group D
Atalanta 1-0 Sporting
Sturm Graz 0-0 Rakow Czestochowa
Group F
Maccabi Haifa 0-1 Rennes
Half-time: Backa Topola 0-0 West Ham
Not easy in Serbia for the Hammers, who despite the lack of Jarrod Bowen have the talent on the field to do rather better than this.
Half-time: AEK 0-0 Brighton
Roberto de Zerbi’s team have been hanging on in Athens. After Evan Ferguson had an early chance he and his fellow attackers have been passengers. The Brighton defence, including young Jack Hinshelwood at left-back, have been put through their paces.
AEK 0-0 Brighton: Matías Almeyda, the Athens boss, grimaces on the halfway line. He has the look of 2000s Bowie, when the Dame grew his hair long again.
AEK 0-0 Brighton: So close for AEK. Zuber, who has been excellent, finds space and shot comes off the keeper and the rebound comes off the bar
Goal! Freiburg 4-0 Olympiacos (Kiliann Sildialli 42)
Fair to say Freiburg have taken control of West Ham’s group.
AEK 0-0 Brighton: Joe Pearson gets in touch. “Given his performances at Russia 2018 (about my only exposure to his play), I’ve held the impression that Vida is kind of a dirty player. Not Ramos level dirty, but dirty enough. Thoughts?”
Hard but fair and a better, classier player than his rather scary looks would suggest. He’s won four titles in four different countries.
Goal! Freiburg 3-0 Olympiacos (Gregoritsch 36, hat-trick)
Updated
Backa Topola 0-0 West Ham: David Moyes is audible on the sideline in Serbia. His team haven’t given him much chance of staying calm. Fabianski is called upon to make a save after a communication breakdown in midfield.
AEK 0-0 Brighton: Zuber gets a decent chance at a header; Brighton by far the team under pressure here.
Goal! Maccabi Haifa 0-1 Rennes
AEK 0-0 Brighton: AEK feature the other Amrabat, Nordin, once of Watford, brother of Sofyan and looking quite handy for a 36-year-old. He may define the words “well-travelled”.
Backa Topola 0-0 West Ham: Milovanovic is given rather too much space in the West Ham box before Ben Johnson has to come across and hoof away. The Hammers have been not great so far.
Goal! Atalanta 1-0 Sporting CP (Scamacca, 23)
The former Hammers on the mark for his latest Italian club.
Updated
AEK 0-0 Brighton: Another decent attack from AEK, with Gacinovic played in by Mantalos but unable to make Verburggen work from that angle. Brighton are coughing up chances and territory.
AEK 0-0 Brighton: Pineda again at the centre of things and Verbruggen has to scramble across and lie on the ball. Brighton seem a tad disjointed.
Backa Topola 0-0 West Ham: Benrahma booms the ball in from the left, and there’s a handball call. It might have been a penalty in Paris on Tuesday. By Thursday, it probably isn’t. The Hammers appeal in vain.
AEK 0-0 Brighton: Pineda, the AEK playmaker, smashes the ball wide from a hurried Mitoma clearance.
Backa Topola 0-0 West Ham: The Hammers sitting back but those Freiburg goals means the German team are topping the group. David Moyes will not want that extra play-off match.
AEK 0-0 Brighton: Some comedy stuff from the AEK defender, Vida, he of the Croatian World Cup team, who plays a no-look pass to an unsuspecting keeper, Stankovic, who has to scamper back across.
Goal! Freiburg 2 Olympiacos 0 (Michael Gregoritsch 8)
Goal! Freiburg 1 Olympiacos 0 (Michael Gregoritsch 3)
Updated
Goal! Besiktas 0 Club Brugge 1 (Casper Nielsen 4)
AEK 0-0 Brighton: Ferguson springs the high line of AEK and forces a fine save from the keeper, and then Dunk heads the corner back across goal. Could Ferguson have been braver there?
And away we go across Europe....
It’s all go, let’s see what this magical night can bring.
David Moyes has been speaking to TNT Sports: Divin Mubama “deserves his opportunity. He’s been knocking on the door and training well. He made an impact at the weekend. He’s been around the first team and been involved in a lot of these games in the last year, so he’s no stranger to it. Hopefully he will do well and get a couple of goals.
“If we can do it tonight it will be great. We’ve done well in Europe and away from home in the past few years and it would be nice to do the same tonight.”
For West Ham, Divin Mubama starts up front with both Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio missing, with Mo Kudus, Emerson Palmieri and Edson Alvarez also out. There’s been an outbreak of illness in the Hammers camp.
Updated
That’s four changes for Brighton, who have lost Tariq Lamptey and Ansu Fati to long-term injuries, with Jack Hinshelwood at left-back and Bart Verbruggen in goal, Karou Mitoma and Igor Julio coming in.
Updated
Here's the Brighton and West Ham teams
TEAM NEWS! 🚨 Here's tonight's starting XI to face AEK Athens in the @EuropaLeague. 📝
— Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) November 30, 2023
📲 https://t.co/S3j1TIedJv // #BHAFC 🤍 pic.twitter.com/q473rtUYet
AEK Athens: Stankovic, Rota, Vida, Moukoudi, Hajsafi, Szymanski, Amrabat, Mantalos, Pineda, Gacinovic, Zuber. Subs: Mohammadi, Araujo, Ponce, Eliasson, Mitoglou, Sidibe,
Athanasiadis, Ginis, Pizarro.
Brighton: Verbruggen, Hinshelwood, Igor, Dunk, Veltman, Gross, Gilmour, Adingra, Ferguson, Mitoma, Joao Pedro. Subs: Milner, Dahoud, Baleba, Steele, McGill, Buonanotte, Jackson, Duffus, Hinchy, Chouchane, Kavanagh.
Referee: Sandro Scharer (Switzerland)
Mubama leads the line in our starting XI ⚒️ pic.twitter.com/Kl6VIgphoR
— West Ham United (@WestHam) November 30, 2023
West Ham: Fabianski; Johnson, Mavropanos, Aguerd, Cresswell; Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Fornals; Benrahma, Mubama, Paqueta. Subs: Areola, Anang, Zouma, Ings, Cornet, Ogbonna, Kehrer, Coventry, Emerson, Chesters, Scarles, Orford
Updated
Preamble
Brighton can carve this season into club mythology by winning in Athens to book a spot in the knockout stages. The same goes for West Ham in Serbia. Both teams may have to look to other results to avoid an extra knockout round in February. It’s a night each of the British teams – Liverpool and Rangers play later – can secure qualification. The same goes for Aston Villa in the Europa Conference.
But, for the early shift, here’s the Europa League games to look out for.
Group A
Backa Topola v. West Ham (KO 5.45)
Freiburg v. Olympiacos (KO 5.45)
Group B
AEK Athens v. Brighton (KO 5.45)
Group C
Sparta Prague v. Real Betis (KO 5.45)
Group D
Atalanta v. Sporting (KO 5.45)
Sturm Graz v. Rakow Czestochowa (KO 5.45)
Group F
Maccabi Haifa v. Rennes (KO 5.45)
Updated
