Football fans everywhere can rejoice as Europe’s top competitions make a return this week. The Champions League will dominate earlier in the week before the Europa League makes its appearance on Thursdays. There are always plenty of twists and turns in the competition and it can often be difficult to predict. As well as breaking down the group stages and potential winners have found the best Europa League betting markets for players to take advantage of in this betting guide.
As always, predicting the winner of the Europa League is tricky, largely because eight new teams will be added to the tournament after the group stages. However, from a UEFA Europa League betting perspective, this is made a little easier by some bookies who will offer odds on ‘any UCL team’ to win the tournament. This is not that common but it is definitely worth looking for. It can also be worth working out who those eight teams are likely to be.
Looking across groups in the Champions League, it is perfectly feasible that any of the likes of RB Leipzig, Porto, AC Milan, Atalanta, Villareal, Sevilla, Ajax, or several other big names could make an appearance. Most notably, reigning champions Villareal and perpetual Europa League winners Sevilla could make appearances so keep an eye on the odds for these.
Some interesting stats from former Europa League winners could help us out here. A UCL team has competed in 13 of the last 15 finals, while it has also been over 10 years since someone from Spain or England didn’t win the tournament. On top of that, a Spanish side has made the final in seven of the last 10 years, and not one of those finals has failed to feature an English or Spanish team. Of course, these don’t necessarily tell us who will win this year, but looking for an English or Spanish team who may join from the UCL could be a wise move when putting together your Europa League predictions.
The bookies are wised up on this, with Leicester, Real Sociedad, and West Ham being among the favorites. Leicester and West Ham can be found at 14.00 and 16.00 respectively with Paddy Power, while Sociedad can be found at 20.00.
The Europa League is likely to undergo some big changes when the UCL teams join in the knockouts. Before that, though, we have six games of group stage football to look forward to. Let’s break down each of the groups in this year’s competition and see if we can put together some good Europa League betting tips for you.
Group A looks as though it could be quite a spicy one. Lyon, Rangers, Sparta Prague, and Brondy could all make a case for progression but the former two are likely to head through here. Of the latter two, Sparta Prague would be the ones most likely to crash the party but a poor performance over two legs against Monaco in the UCL qualification stages show that the Czech team isn’t necessarily up to the standard. Rangers to win the group at 2.00 could be one of the smarter Europa League betting picks if Steven Gerard can get his men playing as they did last year.
Like Group A, Group B should be quite competitive. Monaco, PSV Eindhoven, and Real Sociedad will all hope to progress here, while poor Sturm Graz are probably just making up the numbers. Sociedad are positioned as favorites but the bookies are not giving a lot away. The best odds you will find for Europa League betting in this group are on PSV to sneak through at 1.75 with Betfair. You will find Monaco at similar odds as well.
Two of the Europa League final betting favorites will meet in Group C in the shape of Leicester City and Napoli. Napoli are favored at 2.1 to win the group with Paddy Power but this is narrow, with Leicester being priced at 2.3. Spartak Moscow and Legia Warsaw are not likely to cause many problems and this is reflected in their long odds, with Moscow out at 3.00 just to qualify, and Warsaw being even further out at 6.00.
Like several of the groups, there are three teams that could feasibly advance from Group C. Eintracht Frankfurt, Olympiakos, and Fenerbahce will all fancy their chances, with Royal Antwerp being huge outsiders. The bookies don’t want to give much wiggle room, with odds being very close for qualification between the main three groups. If you’re feeling brave with your Europa League betting predictions, there could be some money to be made in the winner’s market, with Frankfurt being at 2.00 with BetVictor and Olympiakos and Fenerbahce being at 4.5 each.
On paper, this is perhaps the least interesting of the groups in terms of Europa League betting. Lazio should comfortably get through as winners here, and they can be found at 1.90 with BetVictor. Marseille should then take second place, with Galatasaray and Lokomotiv Moscow rounding out the group.
This is one of the least interesting groups from a football perspective, with none of the teams involved likely to be in trophy contention. That said, from a Europa League betting odds perspective, there could be some value here. Red Star Belgrade and Braga are very tightly matched for the winner’s spot, and they can be found at 3.00 and 3.20 respectively. Either of these could happen, so it is definitely worth doing some research and making a decision on who you want to back.
Group G is full of Europa League veterans and could see a surprise or two. Real Betis and Bayer Leverkusen should go through here, but at 3.09 with Betfair to qualify, Celtic could definitely be worth a punt. The Scottish side has been known to cause an upset from time to time and this could be more of the same. Ferencvaros are not likely to cause any upsets.
West Ham United are likely to top this Europa League table quite comfortably. David Moyes’s men have hit the ground running in the Premier League and they will be hoping to carry that form into Europe. The battle here will be for second place - Dinamo Zagreb are the most likely candidates and they can be found at odds of 2.00 with several bookmakers. Genk and Rapid Vienna will no doubt push these close though, with odds of 2.25 and 2.75 respectively. This is one of the more interesting Europa League betting conundrums out there, with all three teams being possible qualification candidates.
All odds were correct at the time of writing - September 8th.