Brighton vs Kauno Žalgiris Preview: Team News, Score Prediction and Opponent Guide

Who are FK Kauno Žalgiris?

Kauno Žalgiris (cow-no zal-ghee-ris) is a Lithuanian club based is Kaunas, the countries second largest city. They were founded in 2004 as FM Spyris, and in 2015 they were permitted entry into the top division, before merging with Basketball club BC Žalgiris the following season (Basketball is Lithuania’s most popular sport, with BC Žalgiris being the country's biggest and most successful team). 

The Green and Whites won the Lithuanian Toplyga for the first time last season, and just last weekend won the Lithuanian Cup for the first time with a 3-0 win against FK Minija Kreting. Random fun fact, Minija are owned by former Tottenham midfielder Moussa Dembélé.

This is Žalgiris’ first ever time in the main stage of a UEFA Competition, as well as being just the second time a Lithuanian club has achieved this feat, following the confusingly named FK Žalgiris in the 22/23 edition of the Conference League. Due to the harsh weather in the Baltics, Kauno’s domestic season ends in just over 3 weeks time, with them on track to win the league once again.

They’ll likely have to adapt their attacking style of play, which has seen them average around two goals a game this season, considering both the strength of the Brighton side, as well as the fact that they play their title rivals Suduva, whom they hold a point with a game in hand over, on Sunday as they head into the final 3 games of the season. When asked about Thursday's game, manager Keljko Sopic stated:

 “We have a huge challenge ahead of us, but we will prepare well. I hope that we will give everything we can on the pitch, and then everything will be in God's hands.”

Albion Team News

We’ve heard some confirmed team news from both an open training session as well as Fabian Hürzeler’s pre game press conference in regards to injuries.

Pascal Struijk is OUT of contention as his minutes are ‘being managed’, and Azeez, Tzimas, Ferguson, Minteh, Mitoma and Wieffer are all still out. Zadok Yohanna has been in full training this week, and while he won’t feature tomorrow he’s not far from returning. Some good news is that Jack Hinshelwood is fit and could be involved.

It will also be interesting to see to what extent Brighton will rotate. Georginio Rutter could likely see his first start since Villa, and we’ll likely see Promise David play a bigger role. There's also probably a fairly decent chance that Matt O’Riley and Jason Steele could feature. However whilst The Seagulls will rotate, it’ll likely only be to an extent and we’ll probably see a consistent core.

Score Prediction

4-0 Brighton. It’s important that The Albion remain level headed and expect a spirited performance for Kauno, and as long as that discipline and mentality is in place there's no doubt that Brighton can emerge comfortable winners.