Europa League draw simulated as Liverpool face familiar foe, Brighton handed group of death

The Europa League draw takes place on Friday - and we've used a supercomputer to simulate what the group stage could look like for Liverpool, Brighton, West Ham and co.

Liverpool will play in the competition for the first time since 2016 - Jurgen Klopp's first season in charge of the club - having finished fifth in the Premier League last season.

They will be joined in the group stage draw by Brighton, who finished in sixth, and West Ham, who won last season's Europa Conference League.

Liverpool will placed in pot one courtesy of their high UEFA co-efficient - they have the highest co-efficient of any team in the tournament - while West Ham have also earned their spot in pot one as a result of winning a European competition last term.

Brighton, meanwhile, are in pot three for their first foray into Europe in the club's history.

Now, we've simulated what the draw could look like, using projected pots and qualifiers from Twitter account @UefaRankings.

Supercomputer simulates 2023/24 Europa League draw

In the simulated draw, Liverpool have been placed in Group B, where they will face German side SC Freiburg and Scottish side Aberdeen.

The third team in the group is Greek giants Olympiacos - the side Liverpool famously defeated at Anfield on the final matchday of the group stage to qualify for the knockouts in 2004/05.

The Reds will take on Scottish opposition once again, meanwhile, having faced and defeated Rangers twice in the group stages of the 2022/23 Champions League.

West Ham, meanwhile, face Rennes, Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava and Greek outfit AEK Athens in Group F.

And Brighton face their own challenging group in the simulation, with Roberto De Zerbi's side taking on Villarreal, Sporting Lisbon and Serbian top division runners-up Backa Tapola in Group E.

Group A sees top seeds Ajax drawn alongside LASK, Union SG and Toulouse.

In Group C, Dinamo Zagreb will face off against Marseille, Sheriff Tiraspol and Sturm Graz, while Roma, Real Betis, Molde and Servette make up a competitive Group D.

Group G is another highly competitive group, featuring Bayer Leverkusen, Slavia Prague, Maccabi Haifa and Panathinaikos.

The final group is Group H, which contains Atalanta, PSV, Qarabag and Polish debutants Rakow Czestochowa.