Europa League winner: Liverpool lead the way; Brighton second favourites
Published:
Seagulls 10/1 in Europa League winner odds
Liverpool are the overwhelming favourites in the Europa League winner odds ahead of the group phase which starts this week.
The Reds, three-time winners of the competition in its former guise of the UEFA Cup, were drawn with LASK, Union St Gilloise and Toulouse in Group E.
Brighton have been installed as 10/1 joint-second favourites as we look at the main contenders to win the final in Dublin on May 22 bearing in mind the eight teams finishing third in the Champions League will transfer to the Europa League once the group stage has concluded.
Liverpool
The Reds are back in the Europa League for the first time in eight years after finishing fifth in the Premier League last season.
Liverpool won the Champions League in 2019 and were runners-up two years ago, so their European pedigree has been exceptional lately.
Jurgen Klopp’s new-look midfield has already made an impressive start to the Premier League season and keeping Mohamed Salah away from the clutches of Saudi Arabia is a massive boost.
Brighton
Despite losing two of their best players during the summer, Brighton have been installed as second favourites to win the competition on their European debut.
Moises Caicedo and Alex Mac Allister made high-profile, big-money moves to Chelsea and Liverpool respectively, but the Seagulls have brought in Barcelona striker Ansu Fati on loan until the end of the season.
Irish youngster Evan Ferguson has burst out of the blocks with four goals in as many games, including a hat-trick against Newcastle, so the early signs are promising that Brighton can get out of a tough group comprising Ajax, Marseille and AEK Athens.
Roma
Jose Mourinho has won five European trophies during spells with Porto, Inter Milan, Manchester United and current club Roma, who were runners-up to Sevilla last season, a year after winning the inaugural Europa Conference League.
However, Roma have made a poor start to the Serie A campaign and would have no points from their first three games had Andrea Belotti not struck in the final 10 minutes to rescue a 2-2 draw against Salernitana in their opening game of the season.
Romelu Lukaku has joined the club on loan from Chelsea and Leandro Paredes has signed from PSG, so they have bolstered a squad that lost key defender Roger Ibanez to the lure of Saudi Arabia.
They face Slavia Prague, Sheriff Tiraspol and Servette in the group stage, so the knockout phase should be the least of their ambitions.
Villarreal
The Yellow Submarine were surprising Champions League semi-finalists in the 2021-22 campaign, although they were knocked out by Anderlecht in the last 16 of the Europa Conference League last season.
Villarreal lost two key players to the Premier League during the summer when striker Nicolas Jackson and defender Pau Torres joined Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively, while winger Samuel Chukwueze made the move to AC Milan, so they are undoubtedly weaker compared with last season.
They have also lost three of their first four games in LaLiga, although they fought back from two goals down to lead Barcelona 3-2 only to fall to a 4-3 defeat.
Awaiting them in the group stage are Rennes, Maccabi Haifa and Panathinaikos which does not appear too daunting.
West Ham
The Hammers won their first major trophy in 40 years with last season’s Europa Conference League triumph and hopes are high of another excellent campaign after an encouraging start in the Premier League.
Wins against Brighton, Chelsea and Luton propelled the Hammers into fourth spot at the international break despite losing talisman Declan Rice in a drawn-out move to Arsenal during the summer.
However, the arrivals of James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez have already proved shrewd business and they could be a threat in the Europa League against group opponents Olympiacos, Freiburg and Serbian side FK TSC, who are appearing in the group stage of European competition for the first time.
Rangers
Rangers dropped into the Europa League after being thrashed by PSV in the second leg of their final qualifier which they followed by losing at home to Celtic in the first Old Firm derby of the season before the international break.
Gers, who reached the Europa Conference League final in 2022, also have Dutch opposition in the group stage in the shape of Ajax, who are priced at 33/1, with Sparta Prague and Aris Limassol making up the pool.
Best of the rest
Real Betis qualified for the Europa League for the third successive season with a sixth-placed finish, but fell at the last-16 stage on both previous occasions.
They spent very little during the transfer window and are 20/1 for a first European trophy.
Bayer Leverkusen reached the semi-finals last season and have been splashing the cash from the sale of Moussa Diaby to Aston Villa, bringing in the likes of Granit Xhaka from Arsenal and Nathan Tella from Southampton. Leverkusen top the Bundesliga table after four games and look an interesting prospect at 16/1.
Atalanta, who sold Rasmus Hojlund to Manchester United in the summer, are priced at 20/1. They have Sporting Lisbon in their group, along with Sturm Graz and Polish side Rakow.
Marseille and Sporting Lisbon are 33/1 and 25/1 respectively, while Freiburg and Rennes can be backed at 40/1.
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
