Following on from two exciting nights of Champions League action across Europe on Tuesday and Wednesday, today our attention turns to the other two big European competitions taking place this season.
They are the Europa League and the relative newcomer to the scene, the Europa Conference League.
After a successful first season, which saw the quality of the Europa League improve greatly following the introduction of the Europa Conference League, both these tournaments are back in their usual Thursday night slots and they will play through their group stages in the same week of the Champions League games.
There are two British or Irish teams in the Europa League this season, Arsenal and Manchester United, while there are three British or Irish teams in the Europa Conference League, West Ham United, Hearts and Shamrock Rovers.
In this article, we are going to preview both competitions, run through the groups, giving you our two teams to qualify from each group (as well as which team to back to win the group), as well as give you our quick tips for how we see each of the 16 games in each competition turning out this week.
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The draw for the Europa League was completed at the same time as the other two draw for the other two European competitions and has produced the following group set up.
To Win Group & Qualify – Arsenal (1-3), PSV Eindhoven
To Win Group & Qualify – Rennes (11/8), Fenerbahce
To Win Group & Qualify – AS Roma (4/6), Real Betis
To Win Group & Qualify – Union Berlin (6/4), Braga
To Win Group & Qualify – Man Utd (4/7), Real Sociedad
To Win Group & Qualify – Feyenoord (12/5), Lazio
To Win Group & Qualify – SC Freiburg (6/4), Nantes
To Win Group & Qualify – AS Monaco (5/6), Red Star Belgrade
The two English teams lead the betting along with AS Roma, with other Italian, Spanish, Dutch, German and French sides then in the mix.
For me, Arsenal have a solid record in this competition, as do Man Utd, so I can understand those odds and both may feel this tournament offers them a realistic chance of success.
However, I also feel AS Roma may well feel that and I think under Jose Mourinho, who has a great record in this competition, they are the team to back here at 14/1.
The 32 teams that qualified for the group stage of the Europa Conference League are outlined in their groups below.
To Win Group & Qualify – Fiorentina, Istanbul Basaksehir
To Win Group & Qualify – West Ham United, Anderlecht
To Win Group & Qualify – Villarreal, Lech Poznan
To Win Group & Qualify – Nice, Koln
To Win Group & Qualify – AZ Alkmaar, Dnipro-1
To Win Group & Qualify – Gent, Djurgarden
To Win Group & Qualify – Slavia Prague, CFR Cluj
To Win Group & Qualify – FC Basel, Slovan Bratislava
Spanish side Villarreal lead the betting, unsurprising given they reached the Champions League semifinals last year. They are followed by the top five teams in the tournament alongside them, West Ham, Fiorentina, Koln and Nice.
Villarreal will likely go deep in this tournament, but I think West Ham should not be afraid of any team in this competition and after a mainly positive experience in the tournament last year, I think David Moyes team at 13/2 are a very good bet for an outright winner punt.
All odds shown were correct with bet365 Sport at the time of writing but may have changed in the meantime.
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