Arsenal, Tottenham and Villarreal Heavy Favorites to Win Groups

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has one major trophy under his belt after success in last season’s FA Cup and will now hope for further glory with his team as favorites to win the Europa League. Photo from @ArsenalOfficial (Twitter)

• UEFA have drawn 12 groups of four with fixtures commencing on October 22
• Gunners will meet Rapid Vienna while Spurs also face Austrians of LASK Linz
• See all odds and best bets for Europa League 2020/21 group stage

The draw has been made for the Europa League group stage with Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan among the leading contenders to win the trophy.

The final will be played in Gdansk in Poland on May 26, 2021, where it was originally scheduled to take place last season.

UEL Group A Odds

All odds taken on October 2 at DraftKings

Group A

Roma clearly lead the way in Group A after reaching the last 16 of this competition where they were eliminated 2-0 by eventual winners Sevilla in August.

They were fifth in Serie A and have begun the new campaign with a 3-0 win against Hellas Verona and a 2-2 draw against Juventus.

Swiss champions Young Boys are in the UEL after losing a Champions League playoff round game 3-0 against Tirana – and also failed to get beyond the Europa League group stage last season.

Pick: Roma (-200)

UEL Group B Odds

Group B

Arsenal are the competition favorites so should dominate this group.

So Rapid Vienna’s battle for second place with Molde could be more interesting,

???? The #UELdraw has now been completed!

???? Here's who we'll be facing in this season's group stage…

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 2, 2020

Vienna were last in European competition when they were eliminated from the 2018/19 Europa League Round of 32 by Inter Milan – losing 1-0 at home and 4-0 away.

Denmark’s Molde advanced through three UCL qualifying rounds before being eliminated in the playoff by Ferencvarosi and entering the UEL instead.

Pick: Rapid Vienna – Top 2 (-143)

UEL Group C Odds

Group C

Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen are the strongest outfit in Group G and were quarterfinalists in this competition last season – losing 2-1 to eventual runners-up Inter Milan after failing to get beyond the UCL group stage.

Nice are back in European competition for the first time since 2017-18 when they reached the last 32 of the Europa League before being defeated by Lokomotiv Moscow.

Leverkusen have drawn both of this season’s Bundesliga games by 0-0 at Wolfsburg and 1-1 at home against Red Bull Leipzig.

Nice are 10th in Ligue1 after two wins, one draw and two defeats.

Pick: Bayer Leverkusen (-143)

UEL Group D Odds

Group D

The intriguing battle here could be for second place behind big-spending Benfica between Glasgow Rangers and Standard Liege.

Steven Gerrard’s Rangers reached the last 16 of the UEL last season where they were knocked out by Bayer Leverkusen and can capitalize on the experience.

FULL-TIME: Rangers 2-1 Galatasaray

???? It's us again, @EuropaLeague! pic.twitter.com/qiHu3OI7dj

— Rangers Football Club (@RangersFC) October 1, 2020

Liege have advanced through three qualifying rounds to reach the group after failing to get beyond the group stage in the previous two seasons. Rangers played two such ties.

Benfica were eliminated from the Champions League’s third qualifying round by Greek side PAOK.

Pick: Rangers – Top 2 (-125)

UEL Group E Odds

Group E

The romantic interest here could be in following second-favorites Granada in their first-ever season in European competition.

They won three qualifying rounds to reach the group stage – knocking out Malmo of Sweden in the playoff.

Favorites PSV Eindhoven have a far greater European pedigree.

Champions League winners in 1988, they failed to get beyond the group stage in last season’s Europa League. They won two qualifying rounds to reach this stage.

PAOK may run both teams close after exiting from the UCL playoff round against Russian side Krasnodar.

Pick: PSV Eindhoven (+115)

UEL Group F Odds

Group F

Napoli are the most powerful outfit in this section after reaching the Champions League last 16 in 2019-20 before being knocked out by Barcelona.

They are top of Italy’s Serie A after two fixtures which included a 6-0 thrashing of Genoa.

⚽️ Training pics from today? We got you!

???? #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/FCpTH1px4H

— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) October 1, 2020

Second favorites Real Sociedad could be pushed hard by AZ Alkmaar who were Dutch title runners-up last season.

Alkmaar were beaten 2-0 by Dinamo Kiev in this season’s Champions League third qualifying round.

Pick: Napoli (-167)

UEL Group G Odds

Group G

Leicester City were top of England’s Premier League after three games and are obvious favorites here.

Portugal’s Braga could have an intriguing fight for second place with AEK Athens.

OFFICIAL: Leicester announce the signing of 19-year-old centre-back Wesley Fofana from Saint-Etienne for a reported £30M fee ???? pic.twitter.com/obj2DpBNg7

— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 2, 2020

Braga were beaten by Glasgow Rangers in this competition’s last 32 last season.

AEK have progressed through a qualifying round and 2-1 playoff defeat of Germany’s Wolfsburg to reach the group stage.

Pick: Leicester City (-143)

UEL Group H Odds

Group H

The battle between second-favorites Lille and Glasgow Celtic could be the most interesting contest – with Milan clear favorites.

Celtic were beaten by Ferencvarosi in the Champions League second qualifying round. They then overcame Riga in the UEL third qualifying round and Sarajevo in the playoff – both by 1-0 scorelines.

Lille was bottom of their Champions League group last season and was automatic UEL group stage qualifiers after finishing fourth in Ligue1.

Pick: Lille – Top 2 (+300)

UEL Group  I Odds

Group I

Villarreal were fourth in Spain’s La Liga after four fixtures and are clear favorites in this section.

Turkey’s Sivasspor have had only one campaign in European football when they lost in a Europa League playoff against Shakhtar Donetsk in 2009-10.

But they should be stronger than third-favorites Maccabi Tel Aviv who were thrashed 7-2 in the playoff by Tottenham Hotspur in midweek.

Pick: Villarreal (-250), Sivasspor – Top 2 (-112)

UEL Group J Odds

Group J

Premier League giants Tottenham should go unchallenged.

LASK Linz of Austria could win the battle for second place after reaching the last 16 last season before being eliminated by Manchester United.

OFFICIAL: Tottenham announce the signing of striker Carlos Vinicius on a loan deal from Benfica.

They’ve been busy this window ✍ pic.twitter.com/4KJcoEMN73

— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 2, 2020

But Bulgaria’s Ludogorets reached the same stage in 2019-20 before being knocked out by eventual finalists Inter Milan. So it could be tight.

Pick: Tottenham Hotspur (-375), LASK – Top 2 (+100)

UEL Group K Odds

Group K

Feyenoord and Dinamo Zagreb are jointly favored for second place behind CSKA Moscow with good reason.

Dutch side Feyenoord qualified automatically for the group after finishing third in the Eredivisie.

Zagreb lost in the UCL third qualifying round against Ferencvarosi before a 3-1 win over the Estonians of Flora in the Europa League playoff.

Pick: CSKA Moscow (+150)

UEL Group L Odds

Group L

Hoffenheim of Germany recently showed what they are capable of with a 4-1 thrashing of Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga so are clear favorites.

Andrej Kramaric in the form of his life ???? #BLMatchday pic.twitter.com/Ae0Zpx4xUW

— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) September 27, 2020

Gent exited the Champions League in a playoff defeat by Dinamo Kiev while Red Star went out a stage earlier in the third qualifying round against Omonia of Cyprus.

Gent then went straight into the UEL group stage while Belgrade had to overcome Ararat-Armenia by 2-1 in a playoff.

Pick: Hoffenheim (-112)