How To Bet on Europa League?
When it comes to continental competitions in European soccer, the UEFA Champions League is, without a doubt, the cream of the crop. But the UEFA Europa League can’t be ignored either. The second-tier continental tournament has grown in importance over the past few years. Since the 2014-15 season, the Europa League winner also secures a spot in the Champions League group stage, adding some extra incentive. And the Europa League shouldn’t be overlooked in sports betting either. If you’re looking for tips on how to bet on the Europa League, then you’ve come to the right place.
With 58 teams taking part in the event, and three qualifying rounds as well, the Europa League has over 100 matches to bet on. With the right Europa League betting odds and Europa League betting predictions, it’s possible to win a decent amount of money. Join us to learn more about betting in the Europa League.
Europa League History
The UEFA Europa League was created in 1971, then was renamed the UEFA Cup. As the competition’s name implies, it was a double-leg knockout bracket with 16 teams taking part. The UEFA Cup replaced the relatively unpopular Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, a tournament played between 16 national Cup winners. Tottenham Hotspurs won the inaugural European Cup, defeating the Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final. Sevilla is the most successful team in Europa League history, lifting the UEFA Cup trophy an impressive six times.
The tournament has featured a number of different formats over the years. In 2009-10, the UEFA Cup was rebranded as the UEFA Europa League. From season 2015 to season 2020-21, the Europa League had close to 200 participants. The format included a five-round qualifier before the group stage and a 24-team knockout. However, in 2021-22, UEFA revamped the format to improve competitiveness. The association re-created its third-tier competition, the UEFA Europa Conference League, which awards a spot in the following year’s Europa League group stage.
Europa League Betting Explained
The Europa League now has 58 participants, including the preliminary rounds. A total of 32 teams advance to the group stage. The number of spots and knockout-round seeding is still based on the same UEFA coefficient used for the Champions League. Here is how the Europa League plays out:
- 32 teams split into eight groups of four teams each, a double round-robin format.
- The top team from each group advances to the round of 16. Second-placed teams face off against the third-placed teams from the Champions League groups in the first knockout round, with two legs.
- The eight winners advance to the round of 16, facing off against the top teams from the group stage. From then on, the competition plays out in a single-elimination, double-legged bracket.
- The final is played in a single game on neutral ground.
While the number of teams has shrunk significantly, there are still plenty of games in the Europa League for you to bet on. Finding good Europa League betting predictions is a massive help. It can be quite tricky for bettors to keep up with all national competitions. Some of the participating teams are relatively unknown to the general public, and wagering on these games can make one feel admittedly lost. However, there are plenty of dedicated specialists ready to help you with these valuable UEFA Europa League betting tips, so don’t hesitate to use them.
With many teams from smaller federations participating in the tournament, it also means that there is room for bigger upsets as well. In the 2022-23 edition, Manchester United and Rome both lost their respective group-stage openers to Real Sociedad and Ludogorets, respectively.
As for UEFA Europa League betting, these are the most popular ones:
- Moneyline: simply betting on the outcome of the game – the home team wins, the away team wins, or a draw.
- Over/Under: whether the combined score of both teams goes over or under the sportsbook’s line.
- Future Bets: wagering on future events, including the champion, top goalscorer, and which team will top each group.
- Handicap: in this bet, each team is awarded a handicap by the sportsbook. The favorite team has a negative handicap and must win by enough to cover the handicap margin. The underdog carries a positive handicap, which means it can win the bet as long as it loses the match by a margin smaller than the handicap. Alternatively, a win or a draw will also cover the underdog’s handicap.
- Prop Bets: these bets are based on a proposition, which isn’t always related to the match result. For example: which player will score a goal? How many players will get yellow cards? How many corner kicks will be taken during the match?
- Parlay Bet: a bet consisting of multiple legs. Each individual leg must win, or the entire parlay loses. For example, you can bet on Arsenal topping its group, Freiburg winning against Olympiacos, and Vitinha scoring a goal. If all bets win, their odds will be multiplied for the final payout. If one of them loses, however, your parlay goes down the drain, even if the other two legs win.
While most bettors usually go with moneyline, there are plenty of competitive Europa League odds available in the other markets mentioned above.
Tips on How to Bet on the Europa League
- It’s always nice to have at least some knowledge about all teams participating in the tournament. Yes, it can be difficult to find information on those clubs from smaller leagues, but it’s still just as valuable.
- Look for Europa League betting tips online. You can find some valuable advice on tricky matches between relatively unknown teams. While it might not look like it at first glance, these matches can hide some valuable Europa League betting odds, which often go overlooked compared to matches featuring more popular clubs.
- Following that same logic, it’s always worth taking a look at all betting markets available for each match. Prop bets in particular tend to offer decent payouts, especially in one-sided matches that don’t offer great value on the moneyline.
Examples of How to Bet on the Europa League
- One important thing worth mentioning: most sportsbooks only consider the full-time results -90 minutes plus injury time- when paying their soccer bets, unless stated otherwise. In other words, if a second leg of a knockout match goes into extra time and penalties, only the result at the end of regulation will count. If Team B is ahead 2-1 at the end of the 90 minutes, then it will be considered the match-winner for betting purposes, even if Team A ties the score in extra time or wins in penalties.
- You can make different bets on the same match. For example, you could wager on Arsenal beating PSV, but PSV covering the handicap. This way, you can win both bets if Arsenal wins the match but doesn’t cover the bookmaker’s handicap.
- Since only the top team from each group proceeds directly to the round of 16, every match carries a lot of weight. While in other competitions teams might decide to rest their key players, this is not really an option in the Europa League.
Pros vs Cons of Betting on the Europa League
Pros:
- Even as a second-tier competition, the Europa League still has plenty of value. You will find very competitive Europa League betting odds in the right sportsbooks, and it’s perfectly possible to win big.
- There are over 140 matches to bet on in a single Europa League season, which means lots of betting markets to wager on as well. Always remember to look for Europa League betting predictions to help you out.
Cons:
- While the number of teams has been trimmed down in recent years, the Europa League still features a significantly large number of participants. Keeping up with nearly 60 different clubs can get difficult, especially if you are following other sports.
- The difference in level between the top and bottom teams is still quite big. Of course, upsets are still going to happen from time to time, but overall, most matches early on tend to be heavily one-sided.
Conclusions
There are many great soccer competitions to bet on over the year, and the Europa League is another one in the mix. Although it doesn’t draw as much attention as the Champions League, it’s still an extremely valuable tournament. Naturally, this means that bettors will also find lots of competitive Europa League betting odds to wager on. Just keep in mind that you will need to follow quite a few teams as well since the competition does feature participants from some relatively unknown national leagues. But if you are up for the task, then the Europa League offers great chances to win big. Of course, you can always look to expand your horizons, so try our section How To Bet on Champions League? as well for more betting options!
