Image source, Getty Images

Has a summer signing slotted in as seamlessly into a new side as well as James Ward-Prowse? He's been superb for the Hammers so far, including in their first group game in the Europa League.

No player created more chances (7) or provided more assists (2) on matchday one of this season’s Europa League than Ward-Prowse.

Indeed, the only English player ever to create more chances in a single match in the competition was Mason Mount for Vitesse v Lazio in November 2017 (8).

Aston Villa are in action later on in the Europa Conference League, at home to Bosnian side Zrinjski Mostar.

It is their first European home game in 13 years - and one they can barely afford to lose.

Villa sit fifth in the Premier League after seven matches, but were defeated 3-2 in their Conference League opener by Legia Warsaw.

Image source, Getty Images

It's been an odd old week for Liverpool, who have spent most of it in the headlines as part of the VAR nonsense that went down at Tottenham last weekend.

Tonight, they can put all that to one side and get back on with playing football again.

They are hosting Union Saint-Gilloise, who I'm sure many of you have never heard of but who are currently top of the Belgian first division. So they're not going to be a pushover for the Reds, that's for sure.

Jurgen Klopp's side came from behind to beat Austria's LASK Linz 3-1 last month in their Group E opener, while tonight's opponent drew 1-1 at home to French side Toulouse.

James Jones, We Are West Ham, external

After an incredibly routine victory against Sheffield United, one thing has become very clear with this current West Ham team.

While players such as James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez and Mohammed Kudus improve the quality of the squad, most notably the midfield following Declan Rice's departure, there have some standout improvements in the performances of players who perhaps underperformed for much of last season.

Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal both look like completely new players this season. Soucek has three goals already and Coufal has three assists in as many games, which is one more than he achieved for the whole of last season. They have been vital to our positive start to the campaign and look refreshed, confident and focused.

But we have also seen others such as Jarrod Bowen and Emerson put in consistent, high-level performances so far this term. Both of them were key to our Europa Conference League win in Prague. Bowen scored the 90th-minute winner, while Emerson put in a man-of-the-match performance, arguably his best in a West Ham shirt to date.

It does appear, then, that ending the club's trophy drought back in June has had a significantly positive effect on the players who were involved in that historic feat. They have come into this new season with a very clear aim of wanting to continue improving and driving this club forward, which is so refreshing to see.

Kurt Zouma and Lucas Paqueta are two others who are clearly using that trophy win as a platform for continued success and top-level performances.

With another European campaign under way and another opportunity to compete for a top-seven finish, it is refreshing to see every single player looking to continue playing their part in what is one of the most successful eras in the club's history.

Get West Ham news and analysis sent to you

Another British team are in European action tonight, with Rangers making the trip to Cyprus.

Steven Davis takes charge of Rangers for the first time as interim manager following the sacking of Michael Beale.

You can follow live text commentary of this game with BBC Scotland.

Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton manager Roberto de Zerbi speaking to TNT Sports: "It's a big game. We are ready. We want to react after the very tough defeat on Saturday. The changes are different because Estupinan is injured.

"It is a great atmosphere, a great stadium. We are ready to play and show our way."

Michael Owen
Former Liverpool and England striker on TNT Sports

This is what it's all about for Brighton to go and play in a stadium like this. They can't lose tonight, a draw would be a decent result for them.

Ansu was never going to be short of offers to take him away from where he had been for just about half of his young life, where he dreamt of succeeding and where, in a perfect world, he would love to return.

Barcelona is his home, his lifelong team and having to leave there in order to move his career forward hurt him deeply. He needed to find someone that really believed in him and would give him the positive support he requires to regain his best level.

Tottenham were favourites to sign him and a deal was close to being done after Ansu had a long chat with manager Ange Postecoglou. Ultimately though, it was the persuasive skills of Brighton coach Roberto de Zerbi that brought him to the south coast of England.

The two men hit it off right from the start and what pleased Ansu was that De Zerbi took time to explain to him that he considered him to be very much part of his plans.

De Zerbi's commitment to the belief that while form may be temporary, class and talent are permanent, impressed Ansu and he was given confidence that if he stayed fit and focused then he will be given the time to help him return to being the type of player the world knows him to be.

Brighton's style of play, the allure of the Premier League and the chance of showcasing his skills in European competition also influenced his decision and his confidence will have been boosted by the fact that he has already got off the mark with a goal, albeit one that came as a consolation effort in a 6-1 routing at Aston Villa.

And most interestingly perhaps, his loan move to Brighton comes without any purchase option at the end of it, which might mean his days at Barcelona may still be far from over.

Read more here.

Check out BBC Sport Sussex's Twitter page , externalfor various videos and fans' insights from France.

Chris Waddle
Ex-Marseille winger on BBC Radio Sussex's Albion Unlimited podcast

Marseille fans are very fanatical about the club and they think they should win every game, and win the Champions League every year. Fans are demanding in what they expect.

I was lucky enough when I was there that we gave them opportunity to think they could win it, we were a dominant force.

The club have changed ownership over the years and I'm not even sure how many managers there's been. It's all based on the results, at Marseille if you lose a couple of games you're out of a job.

They let the players know that they’re not happy, the chairman gets it massively. It's an intimidating place, or it can be. I saw the good times, we didn’t lose many games.

I don’t know what it's like to be the opposition team going into the Velodrome, I never thought about it. I've been to games over the years, the Champions League with Newcastle for example, so I know what the atmosphere is like but I've never been on the other side of it.

I don’t know what it's like coming out of that tunnel onto the pitch with the atmosphere. The referee has to be strong, or they can easily get swayed by the crowd.

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

Former England right-back Paul Parker, speaking to BBC Radio London about West Ham's start to the season and how support for David Moyes has grown in recent months: "If you asked 100 fans about David Moyes in the last few weeks of last season, virtually 90 of them would have said 'if we win the Europa Conference League that gives him a chance, but I'd rather him still go'. Everyone was saying that they didn't want him to stay because of the way it went in the league.

"The way they're going, there's going to be no great concerns about relegation. Just by the way they're playing will tell you that, because it's not just about winning games but it's how you win games.

"You look at them in Europe and they should be one of the two sides [going through from their Europa League group] and he wants to stay in that League Cup. That'll be a big night against Arsenal [in the fourth round]. He [Moyes] is in a good position because he wants to win something, so he'll put a team out to show that to the fans."

Image source, Getty Images

Kurt Zouma wants to pay back David Moyes for his support after the defender was named the new West Ham United club captain.

The 28-year-old officially takes on the armband after last season's captain Declan Rice completed his move to Arsenal in the summer.

Zouma has been a regular in the Hammers' side since his move from Chelsea in 2021, with Moyes and the club standing by the France international last year after he pleaded guilty to kicking and slapping his pet cat in a video that emerged on social media.

The Frenchman said: "It's a huge honour and privilege for me to be captain. It's an amazing club and I'm just so proud.

"The manager has done an amazing job. He's a legend here. We won a trophy last year and that was a top achievement.

"And for me personally he has been helping me in every aspect, with my game and outside of football he has been supporting me throughout everything, and I just can't thank him enough for what he's done for me and I try to give it back on the pitch.

"That's my way, on the pitch. Everything he has helped me through I have to give it back on the pitch."

West Ham re-invested the £105m received for Rice in signing James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez, Mohammed Kudus and Konstantinos Mavropanos, all of whom have helped the side to their impressive start to the season.

"We lost a top player, an important player, in Declan," Zouma added. "But I think the replacements that we made have been very clever.

"That didn't affect us, to be fair, we knew he was going to go. He's played some unbelievable games here, he'll always be remembered here, but he's an opponent now.

"The players that came in have bought into the project at West Ham, they've bought into the tactics, they've settled quickly as well.

"So we are pleased to have those guys and they've helped us make a really strong start to the season."

Former Arsenal and Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leads the attack for Marseille.

Renan Lodi, who had a loan spell at Nottingham Forest last season, is on the bench along with ex-Watford forward Ismaila Sarr.

Marseille XI: Pau Lopez, Clauss, Mbemba, Balerdi, Murillo, Rongier, Veretout, Ndiaye, Harit, Correa, Aubameyang.

Subs: Ngapandouetnbu, Ounahi, Vitor Oliveira, Renan Lodi, Meite, Sarr, Nadir, Blanco, Soglo, Tunkadi, Caprice.

Brighton make six changes to the side that lost 6-1 to Aston Villa last time out as they look to bounce back in what is their first away match in Europe.

Ansu Fati, who scored the Seagulls' solitary goal against Villa, starts, while Jan Paul van Hecke, Adam Webster, Tariq Lamptey, Pascal Gross and Mahmoud Dahoud all come in.

Lewis Dunk, fresh from receiving another England call-up, also starts.

Brighton XI: Steele, Lamptey, van Hecke, Dunk, Veltman, Dahoud, Gross, March, Mitoma, Fati, Welbeck.

Subs: Verbruggen, Igor, Webster, Joao Pedro, Gilmour, Baleba, Adingra, Ferguson, McGill, Buonanotte, Hinshelwood.

There are five changes for West Ham after beating Sheffield United on Saturday.

Lukasz Fabianski, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Pablo Fornals, Mohammed Kudus and Thilo Kehrer come into the starting line-up.

Alphonse Areloa, Kurt Zouma, Emerson and Tomas Soucek are all benched.

Irons striker Michail Antonio is out with a tight adductor muscle and hasn't flown to Germany.

West Ham United XI: Fabianski; Coufal, Mavropanos, Alvarez, Kehrer, Aguerd; Ward-Prowse, Paqueta, Fornals; Bowen, Kudus.

Subs: Areloa, Anang, Zouma, Cornet, Ings, Ogbonna, Benrahma, Soucek, Coventry, Emerson, Mubama.

Christian Streich makes two changes to the Freiburg team who beat Augsburg 2-0 on Sunday.

Nicolas Hoefler returns after serving a domestic suspension and replaces the injured Yannick Keitel.

Junior Adamu comes in for Ritsu Doan, who is benched.

SC Freiburg XI: Atubolu; Sildillia, Ginter, Lienhart; Sallai, Eggestein, Hoefler, Kuebler; Adamu, Hoeler, Grifo.

Subs: Mueller, Uphoff, Schmidt, Gulde, Weisshaupt, Philipp, Makengo, Roehl, Ruedlin, Doan, Breunig.

The goals are flying in in the early Europa Conference League game in Kazakhstan.

Viktoria Plzen have come from behind to lead Astana 2-1 with all the goals so far coming between the 51st and 57th minutes.

Wait, what do you mean you don't care?

Brighton fans were warned not to travel to Marseille for today's game without tickets.

The match has generated huge interest from fans as it is Brighton's first ever European away game.

Albion's safety chief Adrian Morris does not expect any trouble though.

"They have got several large ultra groups. I'm sure everyone has seen it on the internet. They can make a show and certainly stand out when they want to," he said.

"But there is no history between the clubs. There is no reason why there should be any problems, but we just want to be prepared in case they run into some issues.

"And if you haven't got a ticket, don't go."

West Ham's impressive unbeaten run in Europe comprises their victory in last season's Europa Conference League.

They kicked off their Europa League Group A campaign with a 3-1 win against Backa Topola.

However, Bundesliga side SC Freiburg - who beat Olympiakos 3-2 in their opener - will likely pose a tougher test for the Hammers.

"We're playing a really good team who have had excellent success in the Bundesliga and did really well in Europe last year as well," said David Moyes.

"From maybe not being the biggest name in Germany they've certainly grown and got themselves in a really good position."

Brighton fans have described travelling abroad to watch their club play in Europe as a "dream come true".

Albion were in League One back in 2011.

Fans at Gatwick Airport shared their excitement ahead of the club's first ever European away game.

Andy Blunden and his step son Joe Gregory said seeing their beloved Albion in Europe "will be the pinnacle" of their time as Albion fans.

Mr Blunden, from Henfield, has been an Albion supporter for more than 40 years.

"Going away to see Brighton play in Europe in the best thing ever. I saw them play at Gillingham, Withdean, the lot," he said.

"I've loved this club from a young age, so I'm over the moon. It's a dream come true."

Read more here - including more pictures of airport pints.

Image source, Getty Images

West Ham have an impressive record in their sights tonight.

The Hammers can set a new tally for the most European matches unbeaten by an English side when they play SC Freiburg in Germany.

They are currently 16 games without defeat, level with Pep Guardiola's current Manchester City team, Don Revie's Leeds in the 1960s and Bill Nicholson's 1970s Tottenham side.

"I didn't know that," said manager David Moyes.

"Not bad names then, are they?"

Moyes added: "It would be a great achievement if we can do that. Let's hope we can keep it going.

"We've done well in Europe over the last couple of seasons. We want to try to continue that."

Hello and welcome to live text commentary of FOUR English teams playing in Europe.

At 17:45 BST we have Freiburg v West Ham and Marseille v Brighton in the Europa League.

And then at 20:00 BST Liverpool host Union Saint-Gilloise and, in the Europa Conference League, Aston Villa host Zrinjski Mostar.