Albion Analytics: A look at Europa League Group B

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How have our opponents reached this stage of the competition.

Liam Tharme

Albion Analytics

2023-09-20T06:00:00Z

Albion take on AEK Athens, Ajax and Marseille in Group B.

Here is the statistical lowdown on our Group B opponents.

Opta’s Power Rankings — a global team rating system that assigns an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams — show a competitive group. Albion are ranked tenth, Ajax 47th, Marseille 48th and AEK Athens 150th.

It is the only group to feature three teams in the top 50, in the week where the Europa League starts, and only Group D (Atalanta, Sporting, Sturm Graz, Rakow Częstochowa) have a better average group ranking than Albion’s group.

AEK Athens

Head coach Matías Almeyda has been in charge since the start of last season and has implemented a high-pressing 4-4-2 diamond that led AEK to their first Super League title in five years. In a league that is split between a regular season and Championship round, AEK stood tall under pressure. They came second in the regular season but won seven of their ten Championship round games, outscoring opponents 18-3 in those games to take the trophy.

Wyscout have it that they allowed opponents just 6.1 passes before making a defensive action last season, a more intense rate than any Premier League side. Almeyda said he wanted to “test himself” by taking the AEK job and certainly performed last season — their underlying numbers were positive, as well as the results, with only Panathinakos (16) conceding fewer than AEK’s 17 goals, while Almeyda’s side had the most possession (62.2% on average), most accurate crosses per game (6.1), second-most goals (69) and most clean sheets (24).

It is their first time in the Europa League since 2020/21, when they finished bottom in a group containing Leicester City.

Marseille

Marseille were losing finalists to Atletico Madrid in the 2017/18 Europa League final and were Conference League semi-finalists in its inaugural campaign in 2021-22, but have gone out in the group stage in their past two seasons in the Champions League and Europa League.

Marcelino has replaced Igor Tudor from last season and made some tactical switches from their 3-4-3 which finished the 2022/23 season with the second-most shots (behind PSG), final-third tackles and fouls of any Ligue 1 side, while also ranking in the top four for through balls and switches. Alexis Sanchez was played as a false nine, with flying wing-backs and box-crashing midfielders — seven Marseille players scored four-plus Ligue 1 goals.

Marseille are unbeaten after five games this season, winning twice and drawing three. They have taken the most shots (101) in the league but rank fourth-bottom for shot accuracy (29.7%), despite those efforts being on average the second-closest to goal in the league.

Marcelino has cited Arrigo Sacchi (AC Milan) and Rafael Benetiz as inspirations, so it is unsurprising that the Marseille boss adopts a fairly pragmatic 4-4-2. “There will be no individual marking, and 80% of the games will be played with a four-man defence with zone marking. I love counter-pressing,” he said in his first press conference. That Marseille have had more direct attacks (ones from own half, primarily with forward movement, ending with a shot/touch in the opposition box) than build-up attacks (10+ pass sequences with a touch/shot in the opposition box) reflects their greater emphasis on transition football.

Former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been partnered by Vitinha up front in their past two games, following injury to summer signing Illiman Ndiaye. That he has already given league starts to 18 different players in five games also suggests a coach who is trying to determine his best starting XI.

Ajax

By Ajax standards, last season was a significant failure. They had won the past four Eredivisie titles in a row but finished third, 13 points behind winners Feyenoord and on just 69 points — their lowest total since 2008/09.

As ever, Ajax play their quintessential 4-3-3 and try to dominate the ball, though it is closer now to a 4-2-3-1 with a number 10. But they are struggling after losing key players in the summer, with five of their ten most played league players departing: full-back Jurrien Timber (to Arsenal), defensive midfielder Edson Alvarez and versatile forward Mohammed Kudus (both to West Ham), centre-back Calvin Bassey (to Fulham) and attacking midfielder Davy Klassen (to Inter).

Their poor start to the season, just one win from the first four, is their worst since 1965. Though it is worth noting that Maurice Steijn, their new head coach who arrived from Sparta Rotterdam, has named the youngest average starting XI in the league (22.8 years).

They rank just sixth for open-play shots (56), fifth for open-play xG (6.16) and seven teams have bettered their six open-play goals — it is small samples this early in the season, but far from a firing attack. Ajax have the second-most intense press in the league in terms of passes allowed per defensive action (PPDA), making one every 9.2 opposition passes, but they are struggling to turn this into meaningful regains — they rank mid-table for high turnovers, with their 32 and just five ending in shots, which is considerably lower than PSV who are the only team with a more intense PPDA (53 high turnovers, 11 ending in shots).

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Heading into Matchday One, Albion host AEK Athens. Opta have Brighton as the fourth-biggest favourites of any team to win their opening game, after Leverkusen (at home to Hacken), West Ham (at home to TSC) and Atalanta (who host Rakow).