Football betting tips: Europa Conference League outright
5pts Aston Villa to win at 4/1 (General)
There is no need to beat around the bush here, 4/1 favourites ASTON VILLA are absolutely the bet TO WIN the Europa Conference League.
Recent history is on our side. The last, and only, two winners of this competition, Roma (11/2) and West Ham (13/2) both went off as one of ante-post favourites.
Last season, the Hammers won the tournament despite not securing their top flight status until the penultimate game of the season, which tells us something about the calibre of opposition in Europe’s third tier club competition.
According to the odds, Fiorentina (8/1), Eintracht Frankfurt (11/1) and Lille (12/1) are the Villans main competitors.
The Italians reached the final last campaign, so have some pedigree in this competition. Even so, it is not typical English bigotry to say the Premier League is the strongest division in the world, in terms of financial clout, quality and UEFA coefficients.
As per Transfermarkt, the combined valuation of those three squads of the second, third and fourth favourites (£536.48m) is only worth £22.9m more than Villa’s (£513.58).
Unai Emery spent just shy of £80m in the summer, a figure that dwarfs Fiorentina (£37m), Eintracht Frankfurt (£48.1m) and Lille’s (£27.7m) spend.
Europa Conference League winner 23/24 (via Sky Bet)
- 7/2 - Aston Villa
- 8/1 - Fiorentina
- 11/1 - Eintracht Frankfurt
- 12/1 - Lille
- 14/1 - AZ Alkmaar
- 20/1 - Club Brugge, Genk
- 25/1 - Fenerbahce, Gent
- 40/1 bar
Odds correct at 0925 (15/09/23)
It is also worth noting that UEFA’s coefficient points for the Champions, Europa and Conference League rank the eight English clubs significantly higher than any other nation.
In fact, according to Opta's Power Rankings, Villa have an 89.1 rating and to put that into perspective, PSG and Benfica are the sides above them with rating's of 89.6.
All that aside, Villa’s boss is the ace up their sleeve.
Emery won a hat-trick of Europa League trophies with Sevilla in consecutive years from 2014 to 2016.
The Spanish supremo also reached the final with Arsenal in 2019 and then lifted the trophy for a fourth time with Villarral in 2021.
The Conference League has not managed to shake its reputation as a hindrance on the domestic season, it certainly is not held in as high regard as the more prestigious Champions and Europa League by the majority.
Emery is not in that majority though. Speaking upon Villa’s qualification he said: “Playing in Europe always gave me a lot as a coach and in football, I am so grateful for the possibility.
“Now with Aston Villa I want to share with everybody my experiences and my competitive way, that I did before and I want to do it here.”
Emery certainly has the pedigree, now with the best squad in the competition at his disposal, it is just a question of if he can handle the pressure of being the favourite.
Europa Conference League 23/24 Outright best bets
- 5pts Aston Villa to win at 4/1 (General)
Odds correct at 1800 (14/09/23)
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