UEFA Europa Conference League,
League Stage – 1
Brighton
BRI
15/10/2026
20:00
Kauno Žalgiris
SPY
-
Venue
- Amex Stadium
Where to Watch Brighton v Kauno Žalgiris: TV and online streams
Brighton versus Kauno Žalgiris kicks off on Thursday, October 15 at the Amex Stadium. It’s live on TNT Sports in the UK and on Paramount+ in the US.
Preview for Brighton v Kauno Žalgiris
Brighton have rarely looked better under Fabian Hurzeler, and they start their Conference League campaign on Thursday night as the bookmakers’ favourites to lift the trophy in Istanbul. Standing in their way first are Lithuanian champions Kauno Žalgiris, who are making their debut in the main stage of a European competition.
The Seagulls are in superb form. They have won four in a row in all competitions, scoring 13 goals, and they haven’t lost since a 4-3 defeat to Chelsea back in August. That run includes a 3-0 thrashing of Arsenal before the international break, and last weekend’s 2-0 win at Sunderland. They had to dig in at the Stadium of Light: down to 10 men after Pascal Struijk’s red card, which has since been overturned on appeal, Brighton saw the game out.
Brighton sit third in the Premier League with 13 points from six games, behind only Arsenal and Manchester City. Remarkably, they have managed it without wingers Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh, who have yet to feature this season.
They qualified for this competition by finishing eighth last season and then beating Tromsø in the play-offs. This is their second European adventure, after reaching the Europa League last 16 in 2023-24 before going out to Roma.
Kauno Žalgiris have already had a long European summer. They were beaten 7-1 on aggregate by Dinamo Zagreb in Champions League qualifying and then lost 3-1 to Beşiktaş in the Europa League play-offs, which dropped them into the Conference League. Domestically, though, they are flying: Zeljko Sopić’s side are top of the Lithuanian A Lyga by a point and have won six of their last seven league games.
Team News for Brighton v Kauno Žalgiris
Hurzeler confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Struijk will miss out with an injury, although he hopes to have the defender back for Sunday’s derby against Crystal Palace.
Evan Ferguson, Stefanos Tzimas, Mitoma, Minteh, Mats Wieffer and Femi Azeez are all still sidelined. Charalampos Kostoulas is a doubt with a minor hand problem and could start on the bench, with Georginio Rutter expected to lead the line.
With Palace on Sunday, Hurzeler is likely to rotate, giving minutes to players who have been on the fringes during the winning run.
Žalgiris have no reported injury or suspension problems. Fabien Ourega is expected to start, and Gabriel Debeljuh is likely to lead the line.
Expected line-ups for Brighton v Kauno Žalgiris
Brighton: Verbruggen; Kadıoğlu, Vušković, Dunk, Boscagli; Ayari, O’Riley; Gómez, Gross, De Cuyper; Rutter
Kauno Žalgiris: Mikelionis; Moutachy, Lekiatas, Hernández, Iyobosa; Karashima; Ourega, Fiolić, Kalik, Ribeiro; Debeljuh
Stats for Brighton v Kauno Žalgiris
- Brighton have won four games in a row in all competitions, scoring 13 goals.
- The Seagulls are unbeaten since a 4-3 defeat to Chelsea in August.
- Brighton have kept six clean sheets in their last nine games.
- Kauno Žalgiris are playing in the main stage of a European competition for the first time.
- Žalgiris lost their last two away qualifiers by a combined 8-0.
- Žalgiris are top of the Lithuanian A Lyga and have won six of their last seven league games.
- This is the first-ever meeting between the two clubs.
Prediction for Brighton v Kauno Žalgiris
If Brighton can record three successive Premier League wins without conceding there is no reason to suggest that form won’t continue in Europe.
Brighton
3 – 0
Kauno Žalgiris
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: 101greatgoals.com
