Europa Conference League group stage draw LIVE: Date, UK start time, pots and how to follow as Aston Villa await opponents

The Europa Conference League group stage draw for 2023/24 season will take place this Friday.

UEFA’s newest competition has proven to be a popular addition to the European stage and has seen Roma and West Ham win silverware.

West Ham are the reigning Europa Conference League championsGetty

This year, England’s only representative in the group stages is likely to be Aston Villa.

The Villans are 5-0 up on SPFL side Hibernian after the first leg, so barring one of the worst results in history, they will be playing in the group stages.

As qualification hasn’t finished, the pots for the draw are not confirmed just yet, but given Unai Emery‘s European record and Villa’s squad depth, they are one of the clear favourites to win this competition.

Europa Conference League draw: Date and how to follow

The Europa Conference League group stage draw is set to take place on Friday, September 1.

It is being held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and is due to start at 1:30pm UK time.

It will be broadcast live on UEFA.com while TNT Sports will have coverage of the event in the UK. 

talkSPORT and talkSPORT.com will keep up up to date throughout the draw.

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

Ollie Watkins’ hat-trick has Villa on the cusp of the group stagesGetty

Europa Conference League draw: How does it work?

32 teams from across Europe are split into four pots.

The pots are decided by UEFA’s coefficient rankings and will be announced on the morning of the draw.

The draw starts with all the teams from pot one being drawn and so on until there are eight groups of four.

But no team from the same country can be drawn in each other’s group.

Europa Conference League teams

The tournament consists of 22 teams from the Europa Conference League play-offs and ten from the Europa League play-offs.

Bodo/Glimt/Sepsi OSKHJK Helsinki/Farul ConstantaBreidablik/StrugaAPOEL Nicosia/GentBrann/AZ AlkmaarFC Twente/FenerbahceViktoria Pilzen/Tobol KostanayPAOK/HeartsAdana Demirspor/GenkBATE Borisov/BallkaniBesiktas/Dynamo KievFerencvaros/Zalgiris VilniusFiorentina/Rapid WienCelje/Maccabi Tel AvivPartizani/AstanaDnipro-1/Spartak TrnavaRijeka/LilleClub Brugge/OsasunaEintracht Frankfurt/LeveskiAston Villa/HibernianPartizan Beograd/NordsjaellandQarabag FK/Olimpija LjubljanaAris Limassol/Slovan BratislavaFC Sheriff/KlaksvikSparta Prague/Dinamo ZagrebZorya/Slavia PragueAjax/LudogoretsCukaricki/OlympiacosZrinjski Mostar/LASKLugano/Union St.GilloiseAberdeen/BK Haecken

Europa Conference League draw: Group stage schedule

The group stage is set to be played from Thursday, September 21 to Thursday, December 14.

Games will start at 5:45 and 8pm UK time.

Matchday 1: 21 SeptemberMatchday 2: 5 OctoberMatchday 3: 26 OctoberMatchday 4: 9 NovemberMatchday 5: 30 NovemberMatchday 6: 14 December