Europa League 2025-26 winner predictions, odds and best bets

The 2025-26 Europa League kicks off on Wednesday and 36 clubs from across the continent are dreaming of emulating Tottenham's triumph last season.

Spurs beat Manchester United 1-0 in the final and their fellow Premier League clubs Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are prominent in the betting this term.

The Europa League follows the same format as the Champions League so each team will play eight league fixtures before the knockout stages, which culminate in the final at Besiktas Stadium in Istanbul on May 20, 2026.

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2025-26 Europa League betting tips & predictions

Best bets

Roma
3pts 10-1 Paddy Power

Fenerbahce
1pt each-way 33-1 general

Lyon to finish in the top eight
3pts Evs Hills

2025-26 Europa League preview

Last season's Europa League final in Bilbao featured the 15th- and 17th-best teams in England, at least according to the Premier League table.

Brennan Johnson scored the only goal as Tottenham edged past Manchester United and triumphant Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou has got another crack at the competition with his new club Nottingham Forest.

Postecoglou has been typically bullish since arriving at the City Ground, declaring: "I don't have to prove anything to anyone."

That may be for the best given that his Forest career started with a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal, an EFL Cup exit at Swansea and a 1-1 draw at Burnley but bookmakers again expect big things from the English contenders in the Europa League.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is the undisputed boss of Europe's secondary club competition. He won a hat-trick of Europa Leagues with Sevilla, reached the final with Arsenal in 2018-19 and lifted the trophy for a record fourth time with Villarreal in 2020-21.

Like Forest, outright favourites Villa have had a tough start to their domestic campaign. After failing to score in their first four Premier League matches, they let slip a 1-0 lead to draw at ten-man Sunderland on Sunday, prompting Emery to criticise his side's "lazy" defending.

The Europa League will be decided in May rather than September, of course, and Villa have largely the same squad who gave Paris Saint-Germain a scare in last season's Champions League quarter-finals.

But Villa were short-priced favourites for the Conference League in 2023-24 before being thumped 6-2 on aggregate by Olympiakos in the semis and there is not much juice in their odds for Europa League glory.

Roma Coach Gian Piero GasperiniCredit: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett

Rugged Roma are serious trophy contenders

Emery and Postecoglou are not the only Europa League-winning managers involved in this season's competition and Roma, coached by master tactician Gian Piero Gasperini, look a great bet to lift the trophy.

Having excelled under 73-year-old Claudio Ranieri in the second half of last term, Roma are aiming to kick on under sprightly 67-year-old Gasperini.

He inspired Atalanta's Europa League triumph in 2023-24, beating Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield in the quarter-finals and defeating Bayer Leverkusen, who were on a 51-match unbeaten run, by the same scoreline in the final.

Only Serie A champions Napoli conceded fewer goals than Roma last season and goalkeeper Mile Svilar was superb, letting in just 35 goals from a post-shot xG figure of 42.5.

The Gasperini era has started in similarly miserly fashion with 1-0 wins over Bologna, Pisa and Lazio and a 1-0 loss against Torino, who had only eight shots to Roma's 22.

Premier League loanees Evan Ferguson, Kostas Tsimikas and Leon Bailey look like smart signings and Lorenzo Pellegrini, who scored the winner in Sunday's derby against Lazio, is a class act in midfield.

Roma have great recent pedigree in Europe. They won the inaugural Conference League in 2021-22 and lost on penalties to Sevilla in the Europa League final a year later.

They were beaten by Leverkusen in the semi-finals and Athletic Bilbao in the round of 16 in their last two Europa League campaigns and are primed for another strong showing.

Summer signings could power Fenerbahce to glory

Bologna, Porto, Real Betis, Celta Vigo and Lyon are regarded as the main dangers to Villa, Roma and Forest.

Betis host Forest on matchday one although their last meeting with a Premier League club ended in a 4-1 drubbing by Chelsea in May's Conference League final.

Lille, like Villa, finished in the top eight of last term's Champions League standings but the French club lost star striker Jonathan David to Juventus and sold goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier to PSG and centre-back Bafode Diakite to Bournemouth for hefty fees this summer.

Irfan Can Kahveci of Fenerbahce Credit: Middle East Images/AFP via Getty

Fenerbahce are an eye-catching price further down the list despite sacking Jose Mourinho after August's Champions League playoff defeat to Benfica. The only goal of the tie was scored by Benfica's Kerem Akturkoglu, who promptly signed for Fenerbahce a couple of days later.

Former RB Leipzig and Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco has inherited an excellent squad including centre-back Milan Skriniar, midfielder Fred, winger Marco Asensio and forwards Jhon Duran and Youssef En-Nesyri.

Goalkeeper Ederson is a magnificent signing from Manchester City and Fenerbahce have a decent draw with winnable fixtures away to Dinamo Zagreb, Viktoria Plzen, FCSB and Brann in the league phase.

League-phase schedule looks straightforward for Lyon

Fenerbahce are also worth considering at 3-1 to finish in the top eight and Lyon look a solid bet in that market, having won July's appeal against their relegation to Ligue 2 because of financial problems.

Lyon's participation in the Europa League meant Crystal Palace dropped into the Conference League, due to Uefa's shared-ownership rules, with Forest replacing the Eagles.

Off-field issues do not appear to be weighing on Lyon's players, who have won four of their first five Ligue 1 games to nil.

Their only setback was a 3-1 defeat at Rennes, where they were leading 1-0 until ex-Liverpool youngster Tyler Morton was sent off in the 75th minute.

Lyon should have reached last season's semi-finals, blowing a 6-4 aggregate lead in the final six minutes of extra-time against United at Old Trafford.

Star man Rayan Cherki was sold to Manchester City in the summer but Les Gones should bank enough points for a top-eight finish from home fixtures against Salzburg, Basel, Go Ahead Eagles and PAOK Salonika and away games against Utrecht, Betis, Maccabi Tel Aviv (at a neutral venue in Serbia) and Young Boys.

2025-26 Europa League betting odds

Europa League winner	Odds
Aston Villa	6-1
Roma	9-1
Bologna	10-1
Porto	10-1
Nottingham Forest	10-1
Real Betis	12-1
Celta Vigo	14-1
Lyon	14-1
Lille	20-1
Bar	22-1

Odds correct at time of publishing

Want more top football betting advice? Make sure you take a look at Racing Post Sport's tips for more of the latest picks from our experts.

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James MiltonSports Betting Journalist

Published on 23 September 2025inEuropa League