AEK Athens vs Brighton tips and predictions: Seagulls to earn revenge in Greece

Brighton and Hove Albion manager Roberto De Zerbi

Brighton will be looking to secure their place in the Europa League knockout rounds with a win in Greece (1745 GMT).

It’s a simple equation for Brighton, victory in this game books their place in the next round and then if they beat Marseille at the AMEX, they will top the group and automatically secure a bye to the Round of 16.

However, Brighton lost 3-2 to AEK in the reverse fixture and will be hoping to avoid another defeat. That would leave the Seagulls flailing in third place and needing to better AEK’s result in the final matchday.

The Seagulls have had their wings clipped recently with five games without a win in the league before the international break, but they returned to winning ways with a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

That welcome victory in the Premier League was the perfect warm up for a tricky test in Athens, especially as the City Ground is a tough place for visiting teams since Forest’s return to the top flight.

Joao Pedro scored a brace in that game and is the joint top goalscorer in this year’s Europa League with four goals, so backing him in the goalscoring market is definitely worth a shout.

Roberto De Zerbi’s side have been on fire in front of goal this season, scoring 36 goals in 18 games across all competitions. They have also conceded 29 in the same amount of games, so expect the old the onion bag to be filled again and more than 2.5 goals is appealing.

AEK have won four out of their last five in the league, but are coming off back-to-back defeats against Marseille in Group B and are yet to keep a clean sheet in the Europa League this season.

They lie third in the Greek Super League, and are experienced European campaigners so might have caught a Brighton side, making their European debut on the hop, in the matchday one fixture.

The Seagulls have since found their feet in the Europa League and are unbeaten in Group B since that defeat, a run which has included good away performances against European heavyweights Ajax and Marseille.

We can see that run continuing in Athens in the early evening kick-off.

Team news:

Brighton will be without long term absentees Julio Enciso and Danny Welbeck, who have no set return date.
Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma will be absent, while Pervis Estupinian is missing with a muscle injury.
AEK Athens are hoping that Argentinian Sergio Araujo will be fit to face the Seagulls, but forward Levi Garcia and midfielder Jens Jonsson will be missing

Key stats:

- Brighton have not yet lost an away game in the Europa League this season
- AEK Athens have only qualified for the knockout stages once in their last eight Europa League campaigns
- Brighton have scored two goals in all four of their group stage games
- Joao Pedro has scored in three of the four group stage matches