Europa League futures: Liverpool a massive favorite to lift title heading into quarterfinals

The Champions League might be the premier competition in Europe, but the Europa League is no pushover, either. We still have some very strong clubs left in the tournament ahead of the quarterfinals next week, headlined by Liverpool. The Premier League standouts happen to be the favorite to win it all, but the likes of Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan cannot be overlooked, either. Below, we’ll preview the Europa League futures.

Liverpool

With -110 odds at 888sport, the Reds are a clear-cut favorite to conquer Europa, which is really no surprise. Out of the eight sides left in the competition, they’re easily the best. Jurgen Klopp’s men are enjoying a wonderful campaign, currently battling for the Premier League title with Manchester City and Arsenal. The Merseysiders have looked pretty solid up to this point in Europa and just won 11-2 on aggregate against Sparta Praha in the Round of 16. Atalanta will present a difficult test, but there’s little doubt Liverpool will get past them and cruise into the semifinals.

Bayer Leverkusen

They may fly slightly under the radar, but what Bayer Leverkusen is doing this term is truly remarkable. Xabi Alonso’s group is 13 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga and still hasn’t tasted defeat in 2023-24. Not once. That’s mind-boggling in itself. Leverkusen looked like may shockingly bow out in the last 16 of Europa against Qarabag but a last-minute winner from Patrik Schick saved the day. The German outfit is a perfect 8-0-0 in the competition, conceding just seven times and bagging 24 goals. To be honest, Leverkusen is probably the biggest threat to Liverpool when it comes to the Europa title. They have the second-best odds at soccer betting sites.

AC Milan

Milan failed to make it out of their Champions League group, which landed them in Europa. They lost at the last 16 stage back in 2020-21 to Manchester United and will face Serie A rivals Roma in the quarterfinals next week. Along the way in Europa, the Rossoneri have beaten French side Rennes and Slavia Prague in convincing fashion. Domestically, Stefano Pioli’s men are second in the Italian top flight behind Inter, who are running away with the title. Milan certainly has a chance at winning this competition, though.

Roma

Roma isn’t exactly having the best season, sitting in fifth in Serie A. However, the Giallorossi are showing well in Europa. After a 1-0 defeat in the opening leg against Brighton in the Round of 16, Roma bounced back and throttled the Seagulls 4-0 in the return tie to fly into the quarterfinals. They went 4-1-1 in the group stages, finishing behind Slavia Praha. The last eight will be difficult however considering Milan has beaten them in back-to-back matches this term. Roma has their work cut out for them.

West Ham

The Hammers won the Europa Conference League last season and have enjoyed some success in Europa before. They made the semifinals of the competition in 2021-22 before losing to eventual winners, Eintracht Frankfurt. David Moyes’ squad convincingly progressed to the quarters, hammering Freiburg 5-1 across two legs. Currently seventh in the Premier League, they may not even get into Europe next season and the Hammers are tasked with trying to get past unbeaten Leverkusen. Good luck.