Villarreal boss Unai Emery won a record fourth crown last season beating Manchester United in the final
The Europa League qualifying playoffs are still ongoing and the final draw for Europe's second most prestigious club competition won't be decided until August 27. Nonetheless, bookies are already laying out their expectations for this season's edition. There are some fantastic teams with their places already booked for the group stage and they will represent the favourites to lift the trophy. It is of course important to bear in mind the Champions League teams who will fall into this tournament at the second round stage, but given the fact that the last three consecutive winners have been teams who started in the group stage, there is every chance the eventual winners will be on this list.
Leicester City (12/1 Joint Favourites)
The Foxes have become a force to be reckoned with under Brendan Rodgers. They play some fabulous football and get results with it. After narrowly missing out on fourth place in the Premier League again last year, Leicester will hope they can force their way into next season's Champions League by going all the way in the Europa League. The young and extremely talented squad which Rodgers has put together got a taste of silverware last season when they won the FA Cup, and they will surely be targeting European success here. As undoubtedly one of the best and most settled squads in England, Leicester will pose a huge threat to whomever they come across in Europe this season and they could easily go all the way.
The latest odds for the Europa League have City as joint favourites. https://t.co/ldAX2GKrpo
— LCFC Live (@LiveLCFC) August 19, 2021
Napoli (12/1 Joint Favourites)
Just like Leicester, Napoli also missed out on a Champions League spot by one point. They were pipped to fourth by Juventus after a late season uptick in form saw them surge towards the European places. New coach Luciano Spalletti came in to replace Gennaro Gattuso in the summer and will be tasked with restoring the club to its former glory after two difficult seasons. He takes charge of a squad which still boasts tonnes of quality players like captain Lorenzo Insigne, outstanding defender Kalidou Koulibaly who they have somehow held onto, and the ever exciting Victor Osimhen up front. Napoli are dark horses to go the distance in the Serie A title race in the eyes of many experts and they are certainly capable of causing a stir in Europe this season.
‘Osimhen can land Napoli Serie A title’ - Punch Newspapers https://t.co/Hekijdztro
— Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) August 20, 2021
Lazio (16/1)
Elsewhere in Italy, the man who did such fantastic things at Napoli, Maurizio Sarri, is back in the dugout after a season of inactivity, taking over from Simone Inzaghi as Lazio manager. His unorthodox but effective style of management has seen him achieve great things at past clubs and he will hope to replicate that in the Europa League this season. He won this competition back in 2019 with Chelsea and knows how to get the job done. His influence and the goalscoring feats of Ciro Immobile make Lazio one to watch in this season's showpiece. Sarri knows how to take a team all the way in a European knockout competition and he has a very capable squad at his disposal. While Lazio will also be eyeing a return to the top four places in Serie A, they will see themselves as one of the favourites to lift the Europa League and qualify that way.
Pedro keeps Chelsea connection as he swaps Jose Mourinho's Roma for Maurizio Sarri's Lazio https://t.co/fXVUhHs5Kf
— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) August 19, 2021
Bayer Leverkusen (20/1)
After the recent sales of Kai Havertz and now this season Leon Bailey, Bayer Leverkusen fans may be concerned about how their team will get on this season. Clearly this feeling isn't shared by the bookies who place the German side as the fourth most likely to win this season's Europa League of the 16 currently qualified. They do have the likes of Finnish goalkeeper Lukáš Hrádecký and Czech striker Patrik Schick in their ranks, both of whom impressed at Euro 2020, and haven't finished outside the top six in the Bundesliga in five years, which is no mean feat. They have a stable group of players who perform consistently for them but will need a bit of magic to go far in this tournament. Last season they went out in the second round but will hope that the signings they've made so far this season can give them enough to challenge for silverware.
🏆 Only clubs to win more European trophies than top-flight league titles:
— The Sweeper (@SweeperPod) April 22, 2021
🇩🇪 Bayer Leverkusen
🏴 Nottingham Forest
🇮🇹 Parma
🇪🇸 Real Zaragoza
🇪🇸 Sevilla
🏴 Tottenham
🏴 West Ham
This includes Champions League, Europa League, Cup Winners' Cup & their predecessor competitions. pic.twitter.com/WjeRnTTIcq
**All odds from Bet 365
There are of course some other great clubs already qualified for the Europa League who could easily go far - the likes of Lyon, West Ham United, Real Sociedad and Real Betis, but of the 16 currently qualified, these four are the ones to watch out for.
You can watch these fantastic teams play in the Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 via live stream from Bet 365.
You can also follow along with all the Europa League scores with Livescore.
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