The Champions League is the glamour competition in Europe, but you can never write off the Europa League when it comes to entertainment.
Three English clubs will be involved. West Ham will be in Pot One following their success in the Europa Conference League and they will be joined by Liverpool, who have a rich European history.
Brighton, who have played some fantastic football under Roberto De Zerbi, will be competing in Europe for the first time.
Swiss side Servette and Serbian club TSC are also set to make their maiden appearance in the group stages.
Clubs from the same association cannot face each other at this stage of the competition.
The ultimate aim for each club will be to lift the trophy at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on May 22 and emulate Sevilla, who won last season’s competition.
Mail Sport brings you the lowdown on the draw, which will take place at 12pm UK time on Friday.
Sevilla won the Europa League last season, but who will triumph in the 2023-24 campaign?
POT ONE
West Ham
Following their incredible success in the Europa Conference League, West Ham will now be aiming for further European glory.
Despite losing Declan Rice to Arsenal, the Hammers have started the new Premier League season in impressive fashion.
With the £100m gained from selling star midfielder Rice, manager David Moyes has brought in players such as Mohammed Kudus, James Ward-Prowse, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Edson Alvarez.
ONE TO WATCH: Jarrod Bowen
The scorer of the winner against Fiorentina in the Europa Conference League final, Bowen has already scored twice in the Premier League this season.
During West Ham’s last Europa League campaign, in 2021-22, Bowen scored three goals.
LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN
The Hammers reached the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2021-22 but managed to go all the way in the Europa Conference League last season as they won their first major trophy since 1980.
DANGER RATING – 4/5
Winger Jarrod Bowen was key as West Ham won the Europa Conference League last season
Liverpool
A club that has won the Champions League/European Cup on six occasions, Liverpool have also won the Europa League/UEFA Cup three times.
Jurgen Klopp’s side endured a difficult campaign last season but have added players such as Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai and will be eager for glory.
ONE TO WATCH: Dominik Szoboszlai
Szoboszlai will be determined to win a trophy in his first season at Liverpool following his move from RB Leipzig.
He is no stranger to European competition, having previously played in both the Champions League and the Europa League.
Summer signing Dominik Szoboszlai will be eager to win the Europa League with Liverpool
LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN
Liverpool were involved in the Champions League last season but were knocked out by Real Madrid in the Round of 16 stage as they lost 6-2 on aggregate.
DANGER RATING – 5/5
Roma
Roma boss Jose Mourinho previously won the UEFA Cup with Porto, while his Roma side were crowned Europa Conference League champions in 2022.
After the heartbreak of losing last season’s Europa League final on penalties to Sevilla, Roma will be looking to go all the way this time.
ONE TO WATCH: Paulo Dybala
Following his move from Juventus, Dybala scored 18 goals in his first season at Roma. His directness and creativity could torment opponents on the European stage.
Paulo Dybala’s directness and creativity could prove to be very useful for Roma this season
LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN
As alluded to, Roma made it all the way through to last season’s Europa League final, seeing off Red Bull Salzburg, Real Sociedad, Feyenoord and Bayer Leverkusen in the knockout stages but they lost on penalties to Sevilla in the final after the game ended 1-1. Mourinho was left livid with some of the decisions made by referee Anthony Taylor.
DANGER RATING – 5/5
Villarreal
Villarreal have played over 100 games in this competition and were the winners in 2020-21, when they overcame Manchester United on penalties.
After featuring in the Europa Conference League last season, Villarreal are now back involved in the Europa League.
ONE TO WATCH: Gerard Moreno
Moreno, who is in his second spell at Villarreal, possesses a lot of experience of European football.
Quique Setien’s side will in all likelihood need Moreno to be at his clinical best if they are to enjoy a lengthy run in this season’s competition.
Striker Gerard Moreno could have an important part to play for Villarreal in the Europa League
LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN
Last season Villarreal were impressive in the group stages of the Europa Conference League as they topped their section.
However, they suffered a swift exit in the knockout stages as they were beaten 2-1 on aggregate by Anderlecht in the Round of 16.
DANGER RATING – 4/5
Bayer Leverkusen
Leverkusen are aiming to win this competition for the first time since their sole triumph in 1987-88.
They finished sixth in the Bundesliga last season and lost Moussa Diaby to Aston Villa but have added to their squad with the likes of Granit Xhaka, Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella.
ONE TO WATCH: Granit Xhaka
Xhaka thrived in his final season at Arsenal and has started well since joining Leverkusen.
The Swiss midfielder has a lot of Europa League experience and will be looking to put it to good use.
Midfielder Granit Xhaka is starting a new chapter at Bayer Leverkusen after leaving Arsenal
LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN
Xabi Alonso’s side started out in the Champions League last season but were eliminated in the group stages.
They then dropped into the Europa League and progressed all the way to the semi-finals, where they lost 1-0 on aggregate to Roma.
DANGER RATING – 4/5
Atalanta
Atalanta suffered a significant blow as they lost striker Rasmus Hojlund to Manchester United. However, they have brought in Gianluca Scamacca and El Bilal Toure, while Charles De Ketelaere has arrived on loan from AC Milan.
ONE TO WATCH: Duvan Zapata
The Colombian forward poses a significant goal threat and he possesses experience of finding the net in both the Champions League and the Europa League. With Hojlund gone, there will now be even more focus on Zapata.
Colombian striker Duvan Zapata has scored in the Champions League and Europa League
LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN
Atalanta weren’t involved in Europe last season, but they were in the Champions League in 2021-22, when they finished third in a group including Manchester United, Villarreal and Young Boys
DANGER RATING – 3/5
AJAX
The famous Dutch suffered something of a scare as they were beaten 1-0 at home to Bulgarian side Ludogorets, but still prevailed 4-2 on aggregate after winning the first leg comfortably. The Amsterdam outfit finished third last season but will still be seen as a huge threat despite losing the likes of Jurrien Timber, Edson Alvarez and Mohammad Kudus.
ONE TO WATCH
Brian Brobbey. The 21-year-old netted 14 times for his club last season and already has two goals in his first three matches this seaosn.
LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN
Ajax qualified for the Champions League last season but were eliminated in the group stage. They didn’t fare too well after dropping down to the Europa League either as they were dumped out in the first knockout round by Union Berlin, who won 3-1 on aggregate.
DANGER RATING – 4/5
POT TWO
Sporting
A club that has often flitted between the Champions League and the Europa League, Sporting finished in fourth place in Portugal last season.
They have lost Manuel Ugarte, Youssef Chermiti and Tiago Tomas but have brought in Viktor Gyokeres, Francisco Trincao and Morten Hjulmand.
ONE TO WATCH: Viktor Gyokeres
Swedish forward Gyokeres has started impressively at Sporting, scoring two goals in his first three league games after joining from Coventry.
He has never previously played in European competition, so it will be intriguing to see how he fares in the Europa League.
Former Coventry striker Viktor Gyokeres has got off to an encouraging start at Sporting
LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN
Sporting started out in the Champions League last season and finished third in a group including Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham and Marseille.
They then went into the Europa League and beat Midtjylland and Arsenal before being eliminated by Juventus.
DANGER RATING – 4/5
Rennes
Another Europa League club that has lost a key player this summer, Rennes sold Jeremy Doku to Manchester City. Other players that have departed include Lesley Ugochukwu to Chelsea and Lovro Majer to Wolfsburg.
The French side have brought in a player with much European experience in Nemanja Matic.
ONE TO WATCH: Ludovic Blas
A new arrival from Nantes, Blas is an attacking midfielder who also possesses a goal threat. He could be important with regards to helping Rennes break down opposing defences.
A new arrival from Nantes, Rennes midfielder Ludovic Blas is a threat in front of goal
LAST EUROPEAN CAMPAIGN
Last season Rennes were in the Europa League. Having finished in second place in their group they took on Shakhtar Donetsk in the knockout round play-offs but lost on penalties.
DANGER RATING – 3/5
Real Betis
After being knocked out of the Europa League at the Round of 16 stage in each of the last two seasons, Betis will be looking to go further in the competition this time around.
Betis have signed players such as Isco, Hector Bellerin and Ayoze Perez, who could help their European cause.
DANGER RATING – 3/5
Olympiakos
The Greek side thumped Cukaricki 6-1 on aggregate after a 3-0 victory on the night to cruise through to the groups.
Olympiakos, who finished third in the Greek Super League last year, are accustomed to being in the Champions League, but failed to make it out of their Europa League group last year.
DANGER RATING – 3/5
Qarabag
The Azerbaijan team got the job done on the night as they drew 1-1 with Ljubljana and will take confidence when they play in the group stages having finished last season as champions of their division.
Last season they also featured in the Europa League but failed to get out of their group.
DANGER RATING -2/5
Slavia Prague
Through by the skin of their teeth after a 2-1 defeat to Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk, the Czech outfit can count themselves slightly lucky to still be in the Europa League having won 3-2 on aggregate in the play-offs.
They finished second in the Czech top flight and won the Czech Cup but played at a lower level in Europe last year as they featured in the UEFA Conference League, but could not manage to get out of their groups.
DANGER RATING – 1/5
POT THREE
Marseille
The arrival of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could boost Marseille’s chances of enjoying a lengthy run in this competition.
The French club were unable to progress beyond the third qualifying round of the Champions League.
DANGER RATING – 4/5
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be aiming to fire Marseille to glory in the Europa League
Molde
Molde made it through to the play-off round in Champions League qualifying but were eliminated by Galatasaray.
Magnus Wolff Eikrem, once of Manchester United and Cardiff, captains the team.
DANGER RATING – 2/5
Brighton
Continuing on from the good work done by Graham Potter, Roberto De Zerbi has received much praise since taking charge of Brighton.
Kaoru Mitoma is amongst the group of talented players De Zerbi has at his disposal.
DANGER RATING – 4/5
Kaoru Mitoma is amongst the group of talented players in the Brighton team
LASK
Lask were made to sweat on a place in the Europa League group stages as they drew 1-1 with Zrinjski away from home, progressing thanks to a 3-2 aggregate victory.
The Austrian club finished third in their division last season. They are veterans of this competition – hence their high co-efficient and place in pot 2.
DANGER RATING – 2/5
Freiburg
Freiburg made it to the Round of 16 in the Europa League last season before going out to Juventus.
They have, though, lost Kevin Schade and Mark Flekken to Brentford. Maximilian Philipp has arrived on loan from Wolfsburg.
DANGER RATING – 3/5
Maccabi Haifa
Last season Maccabi Haifa were involved in the Champions League group stages for the third time but were unable to get out of their group.
The Israeli champions are captained by Dutch midfielder Tjaronn Chery.
Tjaronn Chery (right) is the captain of Israeli club Maccabi Haifa and will look to impress
DANGER RATING – 2/5
Sturm Graz
After being knocked out of the Champions League in the third qualifying round, Sturm Graz will now take part in the Europa League.
They include former Huddersfield player Jon Goren Stankovic amongst their ranks.
DANGER RATING – 2/5
Union SG
The Belgian outfit held their nerve to complete a confident 3-0 aggregate victory over Lugano on Thursday.
The club are owned by Brighton chief Tony Bloom and finished second in Belgium’s top flight. This will be only their second outing in the Europa League.
DANGER RATING – 2/5
Sparta Prague
They really earned their nickname as ‘Spartans’ having pulled off an incredible comeback against European heavyweights Dinamo Zagreb.
The Croatians led 3-1 after the first leg but Sparta hit back in the second leg – thumping their rivals 4-1 and therefore winning 5-4 on aggregate.
DANGER RATING – 2/5
Sheriff
Made it through narrowly after a 2-1 win over Klaksvik in the second leg.
The Moldovan outfit won their country’s top division last season, as well as the Moldovan cup.
DANGER RATING – 2/5
POT FOUR
TSC
TSC will take part in the Europa League for the first time after finishing in second place in the Serbian league last season.
They have started the new domestic campaign well, winning four and drawing one of their first five games.
DANGER RATING – 1/5
Toulouse
Despite finishing in 13th place in Ligue 1 last season, Toulouse will be competing in the Europa League after winning the Coupe de France.
Thijs Dallinga contributed with 18 goals last season across all competitions.
DANGER RATING – 2/5
Servette
The Swiss side were beaten by Rangers in Champions League qualifying.
Defensive midfielder Gael Ondoua joined the club on a free transfer this summer.
DANGER RATING – 2/5
Defensive midfielder Gael Ondoua arrived at Servette this summer on a free transfer
Panathinaikos
The Greek side were beaten by Braga in the Champions League play-off round.
Midfielder Tonny Vilhena is amongst the players to have joined in this transfer window.
DANGER RATING – 2/5
Hacken
Aberdeen’s conquers have played in this format – either in the UEFA Cup or Europa League – 27 times, so they are no strangers to the competition.
After a 5-3 aggregate win over the Scottish outfit, the Swedish side will be confident they can continue to impress in the group stage.
Aris Limassol
What a statement and comeback the Cyprian oufit made on Thursday night. 2-1 down to Bratislava and then blew their opponents away at home in the second leg.
They finished third in their top flight last season but they’ve shown you should underrestimate them at your own peril.
DANGER RATING – 2/5