Europa League Odds: Man United Favored Into Quarters

After closing out their Premier League campaign on a 14-match unbeaten streak, Manchester United will now turn its focus to the UEFA Europa League. Manchester United will kick off the quarterfinals on Monday as the +175 betting favorite on the updated odds to win the Europa League at sportsbooks.

Odds as of August 8 at Bovada

Red Devils Ride Strong Run into Quarterfinals

The Red Devils embarked on a strong run in early February, compiling a 9-5-0 win-draw-loss record over their final 14 EPL contests to close out the season in third place on the league table.

The club has also produced steady results in recent Europa League outings, outscoring opponents by a wide 17-2 margin during the 4-1-0 run in tournament play that they take into Monday’s quarterfinal matchup against FC Copenhagen at RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany.

Manchester United’s recent impressive play is also reflected in the game line odds on its upcoming date with Copenhagen, where it is listed as heavy -400 chalk. Manchester United split a pair of UEFA Champions League group stage matchups in its only previous meetings with the eight-time Danish Superliga champions back in 2006.

However, the Red Devils now face a Copenhagen squad that is riding high after tallying a convincing 3-0 victory over Istanbul Basaksehir to extend its win streak across all competitions to three matches. Despite that success, the Danish side sits well back of the pack on the Europa League championship odds as +6600 long shots.

Inter Milan Edges Sevilla as Second Favorite

Further down the Europa League futures, Inter Milan sits second to Manchester United at +350, followed by Sevilla at +500, while the Wolverhampton Wanderers trail at +600.

Internazionale faces arguably the stiffest test of this season’s quarterfinals as it takes on Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen on Monday as +105 favorites. The Italian side will be highly motivated after falling just one point short of the top spot in the Serie A table while closing out their league schedule on an eight-match unbeaten streak, but they have advanced past the quarterfinals in Europa League action just once since last raising the trophy back in 1998.

Pegged as a +650 futures bet, Bayer Leverkusen assured themselves of a spot in next season’s Europa League with a fifth-place finish in the Bundesliga but have failed to record consecutive wins while going 5-1-4 in their past 10 matches in all competitions.

However, both Inter and Leverkusen enjoy a favorable path to the final, with the winner of their quarterfinal clash drawing the winner of Tuesday’s game between Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Basel, who are listed on the UEL futures at +1400 and +3300, respectively.

Sevilla returns to action unbeaten in its past 18 overall contests but cannot afford to look past the Wolves in its pursuit of a record sixth UEL title. The Spanish side has lifted the trophy in each of their past three UEL appearances but are listed as just +110 favorites against Wolves, who are coming off their best Premier League campaign in club history.

Understanding Europa Odds

When you check out any top-tier betting site, you’ll see soccer lines displayed like so:

Man United +550

AS Roma +700

VFL Wolfsburg +1100

AS Sainte Etienne +2200

The team with the lowest odds is the favorite, whereas the rest are underdogs. Here, it’s Man U at +550. Let’s say you believe it’s AS Roma’s time to shine and throw down $100 on them. A winning futures bet would give you a payout of $800 – your original money is returned, coupled with your $700 loot.

To see what you’d win based on the odds offered by the betting site and amount you wager, see our Odds Calculator.

What is a Futures Bet on International Soccer?

Any bet that you make in advance of a major sporting event is a futures wager. In this case, you’re betting on the Europa League winner. It can be argued that all sports bets are made prior to an event; however, this type of wager can be made weeks or months before gameplay even begins.

If you see odds you like, you should jump on them. When oddsmakers set the betting action, they will change as group play progresses. The lines may not move as quickly as they do for other leagues like the NFL (which is played weekly), but the odds will shift as we near the finals and you want to get as much out of your bets should you win.