Europa League 2021/22: Outright betting preview

Europa League 2021/22: Who are the favourites?

Team	Odds	2020/21 performance
Leicester City	14.000*	Round of 32
Napoli	14.000*	Round of 32
West Ham United	17.000*	Did not compete
Bayer Leverkusen	21.000*	Round of 32
Lazio	21.000*	Did not compete
Lyon	21.000*	Did not compete
Real Sociedad	21.000*	Round of 32
Eintracht Frankfurt	26.000*	Did not compete

Europa League 2021/22: Schedule

Europa League 2021/22: Teams

Group	Teams
Group A	Lyon, Rangers, Sparta Prague, Brondby
Group B	Monaco, PSV Eindhoven, Real Sociedad, Sturm Graz
Group C	Napoli, Leicester City, Spartak Moscow, Legia Warsaw
Group D	Olympiacos, Eintracht Frankfurt, Fenerbahce, Royal Antwerp
Group E	Lazio, Lokomotiv Moscow, Marseille, Galatasaray
Group F	Braga, Red Star Belgrade, Ludogorets, Midtjylland
Group G	Bayer Leverkusen, Celtic, Real Betis, Ferencvaros
Group H	Dinamo Zagreb, Genk, West Ham United, Rapid Vienna

This season’s Europa League is following a new format featuring eight groups instead of the usual 12. The winner of each group will automatically progress to the Round of 16, while the team in second will play a knockout round play-off beforehand against a team that finishes third in their Champions League group.

Europa League 2021/22: Who will win this season’s Europa League?

In an interesting predicament, the two outright favourites Leicester City and Napoli (both 14.000*) have both been drawn in Group C, meaning one will be forced to navigate the knockout round play-offs if they take the top two spots in their group.

Leicester will perhaps be disappointed to find themselves competing in this season’s Europa League after narrowly missing out on Champions League qualification for the second campaign running. Their shock Round of 32 exit at the hands of Slavia Prague in this competition last season exposed an arguable lack of strength in depth in their squad, which they have made efforts to address with recent acquisitions including RB Salzburg’s Patson Daka and Lille’s Boubakary Soumare. Manager Brendan Rodgers will also have to overcome his lacklustre record on the continental stage if he is to lead his team to glory this time round.

Real Sociedad's striking partnership of Mikel Oyarzabal and Alexander Isak will be aiming to cause plenty of problems for opposition defences.

Napoli have a new manager at the helm in Luciano Spalletti, who will be hoping to maintain the impressive form his team exhibited throughout the second half of 2020/21. While they can undoubtedly field one of the competition’s strongest starting 11s, their somewhat small squad may force him to prioritise between their league and European obligations later on this season. Either way, a team featuring an attack of Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, and Victor Osimhen should not be lacking in goals in this competition.

West Ham United (17.000*) were the surprise package of last season’s Premier League, thoroughly exceeding expectations to secure a sixth-placed finish. While they were unable to retain the services of Jesse Lingard into the new campaign, David Moyes has still managed to improve his squad with the likes of Russian attacking midfielder Nikola Vlasic and Champions League winner Kurt Zouma. Moyes will be relying on such individuals to guide a squad that is relatively unaccustomed to European club soccer.

Bayer Leverkusen’s (21.000*) sixth-placed finish in last season’s Bundesliga was the saving grace of a relatively disappointing campaign and they have since responded by overhauling their squad. Players including Leon Bailey, Lars and Sven Bender, and Demarai Gray have made way for new signings such as defenders Mitchel Bakker and Odilon Kossounou, and their Bundesliga campaign this season has commenced with an encouraging start. Expect their highly rated striker Patrik Schick to be among the tournament’s top scorers.

Maurizio Sarri, who won the Europa League in 2019 with Chelsea, has taken charge at Lazio (21.000*). The Italian side have begun their season in eye-catching fashion with nine goals in their opening two league matches, including four for key forward Ciro Immobile. Lazio successfully progressed to the knockout stages of last season’s Champions League and Sarri appears to have a well-balanced and experienced squad at his disposal.

After enduring a campaign absent of European soccer, Lyon (21.000*) have returned to the Europa League for 2021/22. Peter Bosz has prepared for the tournament with some notable defensive reinforcements in the form of Jerome Boateng and the loan signing of Emerson Palmieri, while Xherdan Shaqiri has been given the task of replacing the departed Memphis Depay’s attacking output. With a potentially stern group comprised of Rangers, Sparta Prague, and Brondby lying in wait, such new signings may require a productive start to their Lyon careers if the French outfit are assert themselves in the competition.

Real Sociedad (21.000*) came fifth in La Liga last season, albeit without sincerely challenging for the top four spots at any point. Their recent opening weekend defeat to Barcelona reiterated that they are a class behind the top European teams, although they still boast a talented squad that many sides will want to avoid. Mikel Oyarzabal and Alexander Isak are among the competition’s finest striking partnerships, while Imanol Alguacil can call upon a versatile and strong midfield who are adept at controlling possession.

Europa League 2021/22: Teams to look out for

PSV Eindhoven (41.000*) deservedly finished second in last season’s Eredivisie and only missed out on the Champions League this season courtesy of a narrow qualifying play-off defeat against Benfica. While their team has lost Donyell Malen and Denzel Dumfries, their squad remains scattered with talent in all areas of the pitch and they currently lead the Dutch top division. However, their tournament will commence in challenging fashion with matches against both Monaco and Real Sociedad in Group B.

Olympiacos have a track record for producing shocks in this competition.

Rangers (51.000*) are a team who have enjoyed gradual yet consistent improvement under Steven Gerrard and they were arguably unfortunate to be eliminated by Slavia Prague in the Round of 16 last season. While their form thus far this season has been slightly underwhelming by their high standards, they will likely be eyeing progression from Group A as a minimum target and their physical brand of counter-attacking soccer has the capability to trouble their opponents.

Olympiacos (86.000*) have frequently highlighted their capability to produce shock results in this competition, most notably knocking out Arsenal two seasons ago. While Group D will entail an interesting test for Pedro Martins’ team, the experience of Youssef El-Arabi, Yann M’Vila, and Mathieu Valbuena means the Greek side should not be underestimated and an appearance in the latter knockout stages is achievable.

Don't forget to also check out our outright betting preview for this season's Champions League.