The Europa League is one of UEFA's key club competitions and the fact that it offers a route into the Champions League has boosted its appeal.
While it is not the continent's top-table tournament, the Europa League features plenty of notable clubs and its competitiveness increases when eliminated Champions League teams enter in the knockout stage.
So which teams are considered most likely to win it this season? Goal takes a look at the 2021-22 favourites, contenders and outsiders.
Who are the Europa League 2021-22 favourites?
Leicester City and Napoli are deemed the favourites to win the Europa League from the outset of the competition, with bet365 offering odds of 14/1 on the Group C duo.
Of course, that is liable to change drastically by the time the Champions League cast-offs drop into the tournament, but for now the likely winner is expected to come from the Premier League or Serie A.
The Foxes do not have a storied history in European competition and, while they reached the quarter-final of the Champions League in 2016-17, Brendan Rodgers' side were dumped out of the Europa League at the last-32 stage in 2020-21, losing on that occasion to Slavia Prague.
Napoli, on the other hand, are consistent competitors on the continental stage, with Diego Maradona famously inspiring them to UEFA Cup glory in 1989. It won't be a stroll for either side though, with Spartak Moscow and Legia Warsaw in their group.
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West Ham are considered early contenders at odds of 16/1 and David Moyes' side will be positive heading into the competition after finishing sixth in the Premier League last season. Having been drawn in Group H with Dinamo Zagreb, Genk and Rapid Wien, their fans will be hopeful of progression.
Following the Hammers with odds of 20/1 attached are a number of European familiars from Serie A, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and La Liga.
Lazio (who finished sixth in Serie A last term) are among that cohort, but Maurizio Sarri has a tough group to navigate through, with Marseille, Galatasaray and Lokomotiv Moscow in the mix. German side Bayer Leverkusen are also rated 20/1, as are La Liga's Real Sociedad and Ligue 1 outfit Lyon.
There is no clear favourite to win the Europa League just yet, but a picture will soon begin to emerge after the group stage.
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Who are the outside bets to win Europa League 2021-22?
There is a broad spread of teams that could be considered outside bets to go all the way in the 2021-22 edition of the Europa League.
Chief among those at the outset of the tournament are Eintracht Frankfurt - with bet365 ranking them a 25/1 bet. Interestingly, their odds are longer than those of Bayer Leverkusen, despite the fact that Frankfurt finished ahead of them in last season's Bundesliga.
Real Betis and Monaco are rated 33/1 to win the Europa League with Dutch side PSV coming in at 40/1 to lift UEFA's secondary club trophy.
Steven Gerrard's Rangers are considered 50/1 to win the trophy, which may not be a terrible punt considering the former Liverpool midfielder steered the Scottish champions to the last 16 in 2020-21, though they are in a testing group which contains Lyon, Sparta Prague and Brondby.
The Gers' Group A rivals Sparta Prague are also rated 50/1 to win outright, along with French side Marseille.
Celtic are deemed less likely than their Glasgow rivals to win the Europa League, with odds of 66/1 attached to them. The Bhoys are in a period of transition after missing out on their 10th league title in a row and have been drawn in a very challenging group alongside Real Betis and Bayer Leverkusen - two teams who are considered potential challengers.
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