Europa League Betting Tips and Predictions

• Europa League Statistics
• Europa League Top Scorers
• How Often Is The UEL Trophy Retained?
• Champions League Dropouts
• Europa League Markets To Bet On
• Betting on Europa League Outrights
• Europa League Betting Tips Summary

The Europa League is one of the most famous club football tournaments in the world, with countless iconic fixtures and millions of fans around the world.

Often considered the little brother of the Champions League, the Europa League showcases some of the elite sides in Europe and, for a long time, the competition had a reputation as being a stepping stone to the UCL.

Never was this better demonstrated when Porto, managed by Jose Mourinho, won the then-UEFA Cup against Celtic in 2003 before winning the Champions League the very next year.

If you’re eager to start betting on the UEFA Europa League, consider this a guide so you can bet with confidence and find the best Europa League betting tips.

Europa League Statistics

When making Europa League predictions, it’s important to know your history. The Europa League was formerly known as the UEFA Cup and has represented the second-tier of European club competition since 1971.

The 2009-10 season featured an expanded competition and was the first to be held under the Europa League name, though the physical trophy remained the same. Following the formation of the UEFA Conference League, the Europa League became the second-most prestigious European club football prize.

Sevilla are the most successful team in the Europa League with six titles, including three in a row between 2014 and 2016. Spanish teams have won a record 13 titles in the competition, followed by English and Italian clubs with 9 each.

Spanish manager Unai Emery has four Europa League titles to his name - the only manager to achieve such a feat.

Europa League winners from 2011-12 to 2021-22:

• Atletico Madrid
• Chelsea
• Sevilla
• Sevilla
• Sevilla
• Manchester United
• Atletico Madrid
• Chelsea
• Sevilla
• Villarreal
• Eintracht Frankfurt

The dominance of Spanish and English teams are evident here, and you may be tempted to back a club from these countries as you start thinking about your Europa League outright.

Betting on a Spanish or English club is very much backed by the stats, but, as we know, anything can happen in football and success is never guaranteed.

Europa League Top Scorers

Legendary players have graced the Europa League over the years, and the competition’s top scorers (including qualifying rounds) are:

• Henrik Larsson (40)
• Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (34)
• Alfredo Morelos (32)
• Radamel Falcao (31)

If you’re going to be betting on the Europa League’s top goalscorer, make sure to check if your chosen player is going to be playing in the qualifying rounds rather than joining at the group stage, as the increased frequency of games means the player is more likely to score goals.

How Often Is The UEL Trophy Retained?

Much like the Champions League, the Europa League is rarely retained, though a Spanish club (Sevilla) did echo Real Madrid’s success in the UCL by winning three in a row in the mid 2010s.

If we exclude Sevilla, no team has won the Europa League in successive years since its rebranding. The Europa League, therefore, is an incredibly difficult trophy to retain.

If you’re backing a team to win the competition simply because they won it the previous year, you may want to rethink this strategy as the statistics are very much against you.

It’s worth noting that since the winners of the Europa League qualify for next year’s UCL, they’ll be absent from the competition unless they finish 3rd in the Champions League group stages, making the possibility of consecutive Europa League victories innately unlikely.

Champions League Dropouts

Those who finish 3rd in a Champions League group stage are transferred to the Europa League for its knockout stages - perhaps giving them an edge over the competition in the process.

Already deep in the competition by default, the ex-Champions League teams often have a stronger squad than their Europa counterparts and are often considered favourites to win. This, however, is not always the case.

Barcelona, for example, entered the Europa League knockout stages in 21/22 and were backed by many to go all the way before a 3-4 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt ended those hopes.

Europa League Markets To Bet On

When looking to make Europa League predictions there are several markets available for fans to bet on, from match bets, outright winners, and top goalscorers.

Betting on Europa League Outrights

Selecting your chosen Europa League outright can be difficult due to the uncertainty of who’s actually going to be playing in it.

Though there are several qualifying rounds, a group stage, and later knockout rounds, the introduction of teams coming from the Champions League can make selecting a winner a confusing process.

In 2020-2021, Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League and subsequently joined the Europa League and reached the final. Though United didn’t end up winning, their run to the final was still hard to predict due to their absence from the competition until the knockout stages.

If you’re selecting your Europa League outright, be sure to pay close attention to the Champions League group stages so you can predict which teams will be demoted down to the Europa League.

Europa League Top Goalscorer Odds

Betting on any competition’s top goal scorer is hard enough, yet alone the Europa League’s.

From 2016/17 to 2021/22, only twice did the tournament’s top goalscorer play for the club that won the trophy, and one of these scorers (Villarreal’s Gerard Moreno) finished joint-goalscorer.

It is, again, worth looking to see if your chosen player is playing in the qualifying rounds or merely joining in the group stages, as the amount of games they play will impact how many goals they’re able to score.

Other Markets

There’s no shortage of markets to select when betting on football matches, particularly those that take place in a knockout competition.

From betting on over/under goals, to total shots on target, to first goalscorer, the Europa League has a betting market for everybody.

Europa League Betting Tips Summary

Looking for the best Europa League betting tips is difficult, but certainly not impossible. It takes some good fortune, competent research, and an understanding of the competition’s past to make educated bets, and the drama of the competition can certainly rival the more famous Champions League.