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Europa League 2018-19: Favourites, outsiders, underdogs, qualified teams & fixtures

The Europa League group stage and the round of 32 stage has just commenced. This year's edition features Premier League giants Chelsea and Arsenal as frontrunners to win the competition.

Goal brings you all the details of this year's Europa League campaign including teams, results and more.


Favourites to win Europa League 2018-19


FA Cup winners Chelsea are heavy favourites to win a second Europa League this season (priced at 4/1 according to bet365 ) after a surprise fifth-placed finish in the Premier League, which meant that they failed to qualify for the more esteemed Champions League.

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Maurizio Sarri's first full season in charge of the Blues will be a pressure-riddled one as he will be expected to return the west London side to the top-tier of European football, preferably through finishing in the Premier League top four or by winning the Europa League.

A new-look Arsenal featuring Unai Emery are also among the favourites to win the competition, priced at 11/2 to win. The Gunners were expected to win the competition last year but fell short to eventual champions Atletico Madrid, and Emery – like Sarri – is expected to attain Champions League season for the following campaign.


Europa League 2018-19 outsiders


Dries Mertens Napoli 2018

Sevilla  are priced at 10/1 to win the competition after winning the competition a record five times, last winning it in 2016 at the expense of Liverpool in the final.

Sevilla finished disappointingly in seventh place in La Liga though are a strong force in Europe – eliminating Manchester United in the last 16 round of the Champions League last season as well as holding Liverpool to a 3-3 draw after being three goals down at half-time.

Napoli have odds of 8/1 to win the Europa League after narrowly failing to progress to the group stage following a 1-0 loss to Liverpool at Anfield in the final fixture.

At one point, the Italians looked poised to finish as group-winners in a supremely competitive Group C, but Liverpool managed to safely secure their spot in the knockout phases alongside Paris Saint-Germain.

The likes of Inter are priced at 25/1 to win the tournament after also dropping down from the Champions League after a draw with PSV meant that Tottenham Hotspur took up the final spot in the group.

Benfica (33/1) , Bayer Leverkusen (25/1) , Betis (25/1), Salzburg (25/1) and Valencia (20/1) are all considered outsiders as well.


Europa League 2018-19 underdogs


Celtic Europa League 2018-19Getty

Celtic are considered serious long shots at 66/1 , while Dynamo Kiev's chances are are also at 66/1 .

The Scottish side managed to progress to the last 32 stage despite losing their final group fixture 2-1 to Salzburg, as RB Leipzig finished in a 1-1 stalemate to Rosenborg in the other Group B fixture.

French side Rennes have odds of 100/1 to emerge as tournament winners.

Fenerbahce , meanwhile, are rated 100/1 to win the tournament, with Slavia Prague also in with a slim chance of emerging tournament winners as they are priced 125/1 to win.


Europa League 2018-19 - group stage fixtures & results


 


Europa League 2018-19 - Route to Final


The final of this year's Europa League will take place on May 29 at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan.

PhaseRound Draw dateFirst legSecond leg
PreliminaryPreliminary round Jun 12Jun 28Jul 5
QualifyingFirst qualifying round, second qualifying round, third qualifying round Jun 19, 20, Jul 23Jul 12Jul 19
Play-offPlay-off round Aug 6Aug 23Aug 30
Group stageMatchday 1 Aug 31Sept 20Sept 20
Group stageMatchday 2 Aug 31Oct 4Oct 4
Group stageMatchday 3 Aug 31Oct 25Oct 25
Group stageMatchday 4 Aug 31Nov 8Nov 8
Group stageMatchday 5 Aug 31Nov 29Nov 29
Group stageMatchday 6 Aug 31Dec 13Dec 13
Knockout phaseRound of 32 Dec 17Feb 14Feb 21
Knockout phaseRound of 16 Feb 22Mar 7Mar 14
Knockout phaseQuarter-finals Mar 15Apr 11Apr 18
Knockout phaseSemi-finals Apr 19May 2May 9
Knockout phaseFinalMay 19May 29/
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