The Europa League knockouts got underway properly last week with Rangers’ impressive 3-1 win over Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in Istanbul being the standout game of the Round of 16 First Legs.
Elsewhere there was a disappointing, but not entirely unsurprising loss for Tottenham and an away draw for Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United. Yet according to online betting, Spurs and the Red Devils are among the favourites to win the entire tournament.
Are the bookmakers right to back these two struggling English sides? Or are there other teams that we should be looking at for European success? Read on to find out as we profile the sides most likely to win this season’s Europa League, Tottenham and United.
Tottenham Hotspur
Let’s start in the capital then with Ange Postecoglou’s men who are somewhat bizarrely the outright favourites to win the competition at an absurdly short 9/2. Firstly to fulfil that prophecy, Spurs will need to overturn a limp 1-0 defeat from the first leg when they welcome AZ Alkmaar to London next week.
Secondly, they’ll have to overcome the overwhelming weight of history and identity by actually winning a trophy. Thirdly, they’ll also have to demonstrate something that they haven’t for over 18 months now – consistency.
We think Tottenham have next to no chance of winning the Europa League this season and have no idea why the bookmakers have them at such short odds. Perhaps it’s a response to tens of thousands of overly optimistic Spurs fans backing their team.
Lazio
The second favourites to win the trophy are Italian outfit Lazio who edged Porto 2-1 in a tight affair in Rome last week. Navigating a tricky second-leg tie away to the Portuguese giants will be no easy task in itself, but if they come through that unscathed they will be genuine contenders for the trophy.
In terms of their strengths, Lazio is a strong systems team with goals coming from all over the pitch, ably created by the attacking outlets of Nuno Tavares, MattiaZaccagni and Matteo Guendouzi. Think of them as the antidote to the dysfunctional and laborious horror shows that are Tottenham and Manchester United right now.
Manchester United
Last week’s 1-1 draw away to Real Sociedad was a good result for Manchester United. Fans won’t see it that way, but Sociedad is a good team and is more than capable of dispatching a team like United on their home patch.
Unfortunately for supporters of the Red Devils, we still back the Royal Society to emerge from this tie successfully, but even if they don’t, we just cannot see a world in which United string together the right run of results to win the Europa League.
Athletic Club
If you haven’t watched La Liga this season you’re missing out. Seriously, it’s been far better than the Premier League. There is a genuine three-way title race, there are goals galore in mid-table and Carlos Corberan is masterminding a great escape for what looked to be a down-and-out Valencia.
Oh, and Oli McBurnie is chipping in with backheel assists against Real Madrid for Las Palmas. On top of that, there are the joyous performances of Athletic Club – yes, we may know them as Athletic Bilbao but Athletic Club is right – who find themselves in fourth place.
Not only are the Basque club looking likely to qualify for the Champions League, but they are doing it in style playing high-octane, free-flowing football spearheaded by the performances of Nico Williams.
If they are to progress to the quarter-finals they will have to overturn a narrow 2-1 away loss to Roma, but if their recent home form is anything to go by – the last time they played at home they won 7-1 – they should make light work of qualification.
Roma
The final entry on our list is fifth-favourites Roma who hold a slender advantage over Athletic, but one that we expect them to surrender. Why? Simply because they haven’t been very good this season.
In Serie A they are in 8th place and 9 points off the Top Four despite having won their last four games (albeit against poor opposition).
The one sliver of hope for Roma though is that they are now under the stewardship of dilly-ding, dilly-dongmiracle worker Claudio Ranieri who has already pulled off the impossible once with Leicester, so is more than capable of pulling off something special with Roma.
Our Tip
Gun to our heads, the team that we are backing to win the Europa League this season in Athletic Club. Pound for pound they have the best squad and are playing the best football, with players all over the pitch capable of hurting any team left in the competition.
Lazio would be a close second, but Athletic edge it for us due to the star power in their ranks.
