Brighton expect home debut will be made vs AEK Athens in the Europa League

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi will look to manage his carefully as the Seagulls start their Group B campaign against Greek champions AEK Athens.

The Seagulls have a few injury and fatigue concerns ahead of kick-off and arrive in high spirits following back to back 3-1 Premier League wins against Newcastle United and Manchester United.

De Zerbi made six changes for the victory at Old Trafford and could well be tempted to tweak his line-up against this Thursday for the 8pm kick-off.

One player who could be set for a key role is Barcelona loanee Ansu Fati. The 20-year-old Spain international arrived late in the transfer window and watched on the stands at Brighton walloped Eddie Howe’s Newcastle 3-1 at the Amex.

Fati then had the international to build up his fitness and bed in on the south coast and made his debut from the bench during the second half of the 3-1 win at Man United. The versatile attacker has the potential to be one of the stars of the Europa League campaign and could be used from the start against Athens.

Fati could take up the No 10 role and play in behind Danny Welbeck, with Solly March – if he has recovered from a minor issue – and Kaoru Mitoma supporting from the flanks. Evan Ferguson could also start, perhaps in place of Welbeck, if De Zerbi feels his Ireland international has recovered sufficiently from a knee injury that saw him drop to the bench at Old Trafford.

De Zerbi does though have plenty of attacking options with Simon Adingra, Joao Pedro and Facundo Buonanotte all pushing for starting roles. Left back Pervis Estupinan will also look to return to the starting XI after he missed the United win due to fatigue following the international break. Julio Enciso (knee) and Jakub Moder (knee) are both ruled out.