Chelsea Favored to Win 2019 Europa League Heading into Round of 32

• Premier League teams Chelsea and Arsenal are among the favorites to win the 2019 Europa League
• Can Spanish side Sevilla win for a fourth time in six years?
• Where’s the best value in betting the Europa League champion?

The Europa League resumes this week with matches on Tuesday and Thursday. With 32 teams remaining, it’s Premier League side Chelsea which bookies have tipped as favorites to win Europe’s second-tier competition.

2019 Europa League Odds

*Click on the link in the table above to see all options

There’s good reason for both Chelsea and Arsenal to own short odds of winning Europa League. Both are the biggest favorites in their matches for the Round of 32. Chelsea face Swedish side Malmo, and Arsenal face BATE Borisov of the Belarusian Premier League.

While both BATE and Malmo are top teams in their own leagues, the gulf in class from the Premier League is huge.

Arsenal have had to name the injured trio of Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck in their Europa League squad due to not having enough homegrown players to fill the quota… 😳 pic.twitter.com/3AW1TX0kgq

— Coral (@Coral) February 5, 2019

At fifth and sixth in the EPL, Arsenal and Chelsea are having decent seasons, yet are performing well below their expectations. Chelsea have struggled to settle under new manager Maurizio Sarri and were just routed 6-0 by Man City on Sunday. While Arsenal are adjusting to a new manager of their own in Unai Emery and have a slew of defensive concerns. 

The Gunners did make a trip to the semi-finals of this tournament last year, losing to eventual champions Atlético Madrid, while Chelsea participated in Champions League last season. 

Sevilla are Europa League Experts

Two of the top remaining sides in the competition face one of the toughest paths to reaching the Round of 16 as Lazio and Sevilla have been drawn against each other.

Lazio made it to the quarter-finals of the competition last year and are tied in fifth in the Italian Serie A. Their odds of +3300 are reflective of the fact they’ll need to advance past five-time champions Sevilla.

🎈 Happy birthday to 5-time champions Sevilla, 1⃣2⃣9⃣ today! 🥳

🏆 2006
🏆 2007
🏆 2014
🏆 2015
🏆 2016#UEL | @SevillaFC pic.twitter.com/RQw2hhPNJt

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) January 25, 2019

Sevilla are the all-time leaders in Europa League wins and won the tournament three straight years from 2014-16. Sevilla are also fourth domestically in Spain.

Los Rojiblancos are fourth in La Liga at 10-7-6. They do often struggle on the road as they are just 3-4-5 on their travels this season.

Past 10 Europa League Winners

Value Lies Past the Top Favorites

Look just below the English teams and Italy’s Napoli can’t be discounted. The side from Naples has been flying in Serie A and only find themselves behind league leaders Juventus.

At 16-4-3 Napoli are nine points ahead of third place Inter. They’ve also been a well-balanced side scoring 42 goals compared to just 18 conceded.

Napoli enters Europa League play after failing to qualify from the group stages of Champions League but finishing third in their group. However, they likely faced the toughest path to qualification having been drawn alongside the likes of PSG and Liverpool.

Arkadiusz Milik get his 8th goal in 8 league games for Napoli in Seria A!

1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣7️⃣8️⃣

8-in-8 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fsh4teQMNZ

— Mozo Football (@MozoFootball) February 2, 2019

Though they only won twice over six matches, that did include a 1-0 home win over Premier League title contenders Liverpool.

Napoli are massive favorites to advance to the Round of 16 as they will face FC Zürich, the current fifth place side of the Swiss Super League.

If you’re looking for a little more value, then FC Salzburg of the Austrian Bundesliga has to be worth a look. While the Austrian side is currently on their winter break, they are 15-3-0 in league play and comfortably in first place by 14 points. They’ve scored 46 times while only conceding 16.

The Austrian league may not get much hype on this side of the pond, but Salzburg are a side worth following.

Munas Dabbur will finish the current #UEL campaign with ____ goals 👈

6⃣ The Salzburg star bagged 6 times in the group stages, and is currently leading the goalscoring charts 👏 pic.twitter.com/EtuMatdFT2

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) January 9, 2019

Last year, they played a streak of 35 matches undefeated across all competitions (not counting friendlies). That streak finally ended on the road to Lazio in the Europa League quarter-finals.

However a 4-1 home win over the Italians was enough to see them through to the next round where they would eventually fall to finalists Marseille.

🔸OFFICIAL: ROUND OF 32 DRAW!🔸

😃 or 😩 ❓#UELdraw pic.twitter.com/goTApmKddP

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) December 17, 2018

Entering Thursday’s match to Belgium’s second place side Club Brugge, Die Roten Bullen are now riding another impressive win streak. Salzburg have remained undefeated since May 27, a stretch that now includes 43 matches overall.

Best Bets to Win Europa League: Napoli +650 & Salzburg +2000