Europa League draw: What time does it start, what TV channel is it on, where can I watch it live?

Everything you need to know about Friday's Europa League group stage draw

Mark Critchley
Friday 26 August 2016 02:42 EDT
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Manchester United and Southampton will be included in Friday's draw
Manchester United and Southampton will be included in Friday's draw (Getty)

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The draw for the group stage of this season's Europa League will take place on Friday 26 August, with Manchester United and Southampton set to learn their fate.

What time does it start?

The draw will take place at 12.00pm BST in Monaco.

Follow The Independent's live coverage of the draw here.

How does it work?

48 clubs, including United, Southampton and the League of Ireland's Dundalk, will be drawn into 12 groups.

The teams are seeded into four pots, with one team from each pot going into each group.

Two qualify from each group. They are joined in the next round - the round-of-32 - by the eight third-placed sides from the Champions League group stage.

Who's in the pots?

Pot 1

Schalke 04, Zenit St Petersburg, Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Athletic Bilbao, Olympiakos, Villarreal, Ajax, Internazionale, Fiorentina, Anderlecht, Viktoria Plzen

Pot 2

AZ Alkmaar, Braga, Salzburg, Roma, Fenerbahce, Sparta Prague, PAOK, Steaua Bucharest, Genk, APOEL, Standard Liege, St-Etienne

Pot 3

Gent, Young Boys, Krasnodar, Rapid Wien, Slovan Liberec, Celta Vigo, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Feyenoord, Austria Wien, Mainz, Zurich, Southampton

Pot 4

Panathinaikos, Sassuolo, Qarabag, Astana, Nice, Zorya Luhansk, Astra Giurgiu, Konyaspor, Osmanlispor, Qabala, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, Dundalk

Where can I watch the draw?

The draw will be broadcasted live on Uefa.com, the official website of European football's governing body.

Alternatively, if you'd like to save on data charges, you can follow The Independent's live blog of the draw.

When will the ties be played?

The matches will be held on 15 and 29 September, 20 October, 3 and 24 November and 8 December.

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