Europa League Finals Betting – Dnipro vs. Sevilla

Dnipro (+550) vs. Sevilla (-166), Draw (+300)

Two teams with drastically different histories will square off in the final of the Europa League this year as Sevilla, a regular in the Europa League/UEFA Cup finals, faces Ukrainian side Dnipro, the surprise team of the tournament. The squads will battle for Europa League supremacy tomorrow at the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland (2:45 PM Eastern).

Sevilla entered the tournament as one of the favorites to lift the trophy, which is no surprise considering the Spanish side claimed the title in 2005-06, 2006-07, and 2013-14.  Sevilla took down the likes of Borussia Moenchengladbach, Villarreal, Zenit St. Petersburg, and Fiorentina on their way to the final, largely dominating their opponents – especially the Italians – from start to finish.

“We can’t deny that we have the chance to write history [by winning back-to-back titles]. Of course, we are grateful to have that chance, to be able to pursue this,” manager Unai Emery told UEFA.com.  “We are aiming to achieve something with this team … It shouldn’t feel like pressure or stop us from executing our game plan against Dnipro. It will serve more as motivation, like a dream we can achieve.”

Dnipro’s road to the final hasn’t been as dominant as Sevilla’s, especially in terms of goal scoring. The team hasn’t scored more than two goals in any game in the tournament, relying on defense to upend favored competition.

The Ukrainians recognize that they will once again come in the underdog against the high-scoring Spanish squad, much like in their semi-final against Napoli.

“[Sevilla are] the favorites, they’re the holders, they’re a very good Spanish team with fast players and fast attacks – everything that modern football demands. But I think what will matter more is motivation. Whoever is more resilient will win”, said Dnipro captain Ruslan Rotan to UEFA.com.

Sevilla have experience on their side, and will boast an aggressive offensive style that they’ll employ from the opening kick. While Dnipro are a nice story, there’s a reason they have largely been underdogs on their road to the final: they simply don’t score enough goals. When it comes to value, taking the team that can put the ball in the net consistently is the play.

Pick: Sevilla (-166).

(Photo credit: Вячеслав Евдокимов (fc-zenit.ru) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)