Europa League draw simulated as Liverpool, Brighton and West Ham opponents predicted

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, while Scottish Premiership runners-up Rangers are in pot one after being knocked out of Champions League qualifying by PSV.

Now, we've simulated what the draw could look like, after the 32 teams that have qualified for the competition were confirmed.

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 Swedish side BK Hacken.

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.

West Ham, meanwhile, face Rennes, Czech side Sparta Prague 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, Rangers will face off against Marseille, Sheriff Tiraspol - who beat Real Madrid in the Champions League two years ago - and Aris Limassol, 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, Qarabag, Sturm Graz and Polish debutants Rakow Czestochowa.