UEFA Europa Conference League – Betting Guide

Group A Winner: İstanbul Başakşehirꦜ Istanbul Başakşehir made it through to the round of 16 via the grace of the goal difference. The Turkish side now have the opportunity to again prove themselves on an international stage, having previously impressed in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League. Worth a mention too is their 3-0 victory over group A favourites Fiorentina, for anyone doubting their ability to take it to big European teams.

Ground B Winner: West Ham United♏ England’s only chance of Europa Conference League glory lay at the feet of The Hammers. While that may seem like a tall order, they have breezed through to the last 16 with 16 points following a historic clean sweep of Group B, which they finalised with an emphatic 3-0 victory over FCSB.

Group C Winner: Villarreal🐠 At the start of the Europa Conference League group stages, we picked Italy’s Villarreal as our pick to win the whole thing. Did they live up to our expectations? Not quite, but nearly. A duo of wins opposite Austria Vienna, including a 5-0 spectacular, appeared to confirm their dominance. However, a draw against Be’er Sheva saw some chinks in their armour before a 3-0 loss to Lech finally handed them some humility. Still, 13 points was enough for them to jump straight to the round of 16.

Ground D Winner: Nice It has been a rockier road to the round of 16 for France’s Nice, who overcame Partizan to advance with 9 points in Group D overall. Although it's the lowest number to directly qualify to the round of 16, don’t be fooled – Nice are no underdogs, having survived a tough group and with plenty of international pedigree.

Group E Winner: AZ Alkmaar Zaanstreek – simply known as AZ to many Dutch fans – did not have the comfortable ride to the top of Group E that their strong 15 points position might suggest. Most games posed a serious challenge, not just their 1-0 loss to Apollon. Nonetheless, they persevered, and that toughness and consistency (they also scored 18 goals in the qualifiers) makes them a force to be reckoned with.

Group F Winner: Djurgårdens IF🎐 It’s been an astonishing few years for Swedish side Djurgårdens IF, having won the Svenska Cupen in 2018 and the Allsvenskan in 2019. Their attempts to take their domestic success international has thus far looked promising, dominating Group F without a single loss and trouncing nearest rivals Gent 16 points to 8 to take the top spot.

Group G Winner: Sivasspor𒐪 Another Turkish team who has scraped and clawed their way to the round of 16 are Sivasspor. Their battle with CFR Cluj for the top spot was riveting, with only a point between them. Ultimately, it was Sivasspor’s 3-0 victory over their Romanian rivals which swung it for them, taking them to the top of Group G.

Group H Winner: Slovan Bratislava🍷 It was a two-horse race in Group H for that top spot and immediate advancement to the round of 16 between Slovan Bratislava and group favourites Basel. But the only club from Slovakia to win a European tournament persevered, with their 2-1 victory over Žalgiris finally taking them over the top to make it through with 11 points.

Group A runner-up: Fiorentina🍃 Most people expected Fiorentina to go straight to the round of 16, but İstanbul Başakşehir had other plans. Nonetheless, this legendary Italian club has all the quality needed to be a major player in this tournament and win their first international prize since the Anglo Italian League Cup of 1975. However, they’ll need to pull their pieces together fast, or Braga will surely end that dream.

Group B Runner-Up: Anderlecht💃 Another incredibly tough to predict, evenly matched knockout play-off contest will take place featuring Ludogorets Razgrad and Belgium’s Anderlecht. Both have showcased immense stopping power, but seesaw performances are what's making things so uncertain. Anderlecht’s more straightforward path through the knockout stages was blocked by the runaway train of West Ham momentum on two occasions, but they still managed to shine against FCSB and Silkeborg. Their round of 16 chances remain solid.

Group C Runner-Up Lech Poznań🐷 If you’re looking for an underdog team to defy expectations, then Lech Poznań are well worthy of your consideration. They were more than capable of making it straight through to the round of 16 were they not given the misfortune of being placed in Group C alongside Villareal. And even that European juggernaut felt their sting, losing their last group stage match 3-0 to these Polish wildcards. Their chances against Glimt look good too, meaning they could be a surprise force to be reckoned with all along this tournament.

Group D Runner-Up: Partizan🔜 A duo of victories over FC Köln almost saw Partizan escape an exceptionally competitive Europa Conference League Group D with top qualification, but head-to-head points with Nice are pitting a Moldovan challenge in their way first. Considering their group featured two top contenders to win the whole tournament in Nice and FC Köln, the Serbian squad have already defied expectations. We could easily see them do so again against an inconsistent Sheriff Tiraspol.

Group E Runner-Up: Dnipro- 1✱ Facing Larnaca will be another Ukranian side, Dnipro-1, who have proven themselves tough customers in Group E of the Europa Conference League, toppling both Apollon and Vaduz to get this second chance of international glory. They have come back from controversary and enter this tournament in the most extraordinary of circumstances, so we’d say anything is possible.

Group F Runner-Up: Gent♚ The reliability for which Gent are known for in Belgium faltered a little in the face of international excellence and the stunning form of Djurgårdens IF. But they are not to be taken lightly, considering the 4-0 victory over Molde. In fact, we would consider them slight favourites in their date with destiny against Qarabağ.

Group G Runner-Up: CFR Cluj꧟ We wouldn’t count CFR Cluj out the European Conference League race just yet. This is a tournament of surprises in which they performed admirably across the group stages, missing out on the Group G advancement to the round of 16 by a single point and besting best Slavia Prague and FC Ballkani along the way. They are underdogs for sure, but one with plenty of bite left.

Group H Runner-Up: Basel𒅌 In another close call landing into the knockout play-off round, Swiss team Basel found themselves drawn on overall points with Slovan Bratislava but lost through head-to-head stats. Still, they finished well, besting Pyunik 2-3 and showing plenty of promise in this competition so far despite disappointment. We’d put their chances against Trabzonspor as close to evens in what could be the pick of the play-offs.

Group A Third Place: Bodø/Glimtജ There wasn’t much chance of Bodø/Glimt shocking the world in Group A of the Europa League, so dominated as it was by PSV Eindhoven and Arsenal. Nonetheless, this Norwegian side bested Zürich and earned the right to try for international recognition once more. Stranger things have happened, especially considering Bodø/Glimt’s entertaining 2-1 victory over Zurich and the fortitude shown in their 1-0 loss to Arsenal.

Group B Third Place: AEK Larnaca♓ In truth, AEK Larnaca didn’t have the most prestigious path to the knock out play-offs, having only beaten Dynamo Kyiv to finish third in Group B of the Europa League. Even so, two draws against tough sides imply that the Cypriot side aren’t toppled easily, and could prove a nightmare when dragging their opponents out across two legs.

Group C Third Place: Ludogorets Razgrad💦 For a moment, it looks like Ludogorets Razgrad had really done it. They were a goal up just before half time against heavy favourites AS Roma in their final game of the group stage. However, AS Roma made a stunning comeback, leaving Bulgarian’s Ludogorets Razgrad to fall back to the knock-out stages of the Europa Conference League and a showdown with Anderlecht. However, their last outing and general form shows they are nothing if not resilient.

Group D Third Place: Braga﷽ It’s surprising for us to get this far into any list of teams qualified for the latter stages of an international club tournament without coming across a Portuguese club. Having said that, Braga are a terrific team to represent such a great country for football. They find themselves in the knockout play-off rounds having crashed out of an exceedingly competitive Group D in the Europa League, and are a worthy challenger to the dangerous Fiorentina.

Group E Third Place: Sheriff Tiraspol🐽 Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol may have drawn something of the short straw in Group E of the Europa League, being pitted against both Manchester United and Real Sociedad. Still, that third spot and entry to the Europa Conference league was an opportunity they grabbed with both hands, taking out the unfortunate Omonia twice in succession. They will have a much more evenly matched test of their abilities against Partizan.

Group F Third Place: Lazio🌞 Many were surprised to see Italian giants Lazio drop to the Europa League Conference, but an absurdly competitive Group F (in which all teams drew at 8 points) meant that they fell short due to goal difference. They’ve immediately found themselves among the favourites to win the whole tournament, with CFR Cluj looking to many as unlikely to stand effectively in their way. It would be sweeter for Lazio if they were able to win this competition, as they stand to take the Conference League crown from fierce local rivals Roma.

Group G Third Place: Qarabağ💟 In the Azerbaijan domestic league, Qarabağ are used to being top dogs. While not quite as assertive in the ultra-competitive international leagues, they did miss out on the Europa League knockout round by a mere point, and will be looking to make up for it here. Their domestic form immediately following that disappointment certainly suggests they are unbowed by the demotion.

Group H Third Place: Trabzonsporꩲ Turkey is still very well represented in this tournament, with Trabzonspor being another strong side capable of going far. They are another team that failed to gain further Europa League qualification by a single point, and a 4-0 win over Monaco showcased their potential. That said, they’ve got quite the challenge on their hands in their knockout round fixture against Basel.

265 goals have been scored.

🅷 That comes out to nearly 2.77 goals per match, with an average of 36 minutes between them.

🔥 Most goals were scored between the 61st and 75th minute of the game.

𒐪 Villareal comes out of the group stages with the most goals scored at 14.

🔯 Dovbyk from Dnipro-1 has secured the most goal individually, with 5 scored altogether.

ꦫ 96 out of 140 games have been played in the tournament at the end of the group stage, meaning we’re over halfway there.

🦩 The most attempts on goal were delivered by Slavia Praha at 140. It still wasn’t enough to see them any further in the tournament, though.

401 goals were scored.

⭕Nearly 2 million (1,978.850) people attended. That’s an average of 14,135 per match.

🍎Although Feyenoord did fail to beat Roma in the finals, Cyriel Dessers became top scorer with 10 goals.

🙈Five different players tied for most assists with 4 in total. These include Copenhagen’s Pep Biel, Vitesse’s Eli Dasa, Roma’s Rick Karsdorp, Feyenoord’s Loui Sinisterra, and Erick Botheim from Fotballklubben Bodø/Glimt.

꧃The finals at Arena Kombëtare in Tirana attracted an audience of 19,597.

You'll become more familiar with teams from oft-forgotten leagues🤪. How much do you know about teams in Switzerland, Israel, or Latvia?

There's plenty of betting value to be found🃏. With the quality of most teams relatively unknown, bookies’ odds won’t be as close to reality as they are in the top competitions. This gives you plenty of opportunity to exploit.

It’s anyone’s trophy. ꦅThis is a new competition with an aura of unpredictability, meaning that, unlike the two UEFA competitions above it, anyone could triumph.

Discover hidden gems scattered around Europe.🍃 This tournament will be a golden stage for rising stars to display their talents to a wider audience.

The winning team goes onto the Europa League:ꦿ One of the things which makes European club football competition so interesting is how they are intertwined. For instance, the winner of the Europa Conference League goes on to be a Group A seeded team in the Europa League, meaning watching this tournament also has interesting implications elsewhere.