2010/11 Europa League outright odds

Although 48  teams featured in Friday’s Europa League draw, there are effectively a total of 56 sides still in the competition, with 8 third-placed teams from the Champions League group stages set to join the top two from each of the 12 groups in the last 32.

Therefore, it’s worth bearing this in mind when betting on the Europa League outright betting market, with MANCHESTER CITY the clear favourite at odds of 6/1 (Blue Square) despite the fact that they have been drawn with Juventus in Group A. Roberto Mancini has spent over £100 million on quality players this season and the bookmakers think that this will be enough to help them go very close.

Clearly, it depends on what sort of teams drop out of the Champions League and into this competition, although 6/1 could seem like a big price considering that City boast players like James Milner, Carlos Tevez, David Silva and Yaya Toure. The latter trio have major experience when it comes to European football and they might prove the best of the rest.

LIVERPOOL looked as though their participation in the competition could have come to an end on Thursday, with the Reds finding themselves a goal down to Trabzonspor in their second leg match. However, Roy Hodgson’s team showed tremendous character to go through in Turkey and they are now 11/1 (Blue Square) to win the Europa League. The manager steered Fulham to the final last season, so perhaps they will go far again.

The team that beat Fulham last season were ATLETICO MADRID and the Spanish side also recently beat Inter Milan to win the Super Cup. This is a talented team that feature Kun Aguero and Diego Forlan in attack, with 16/1 (Sky Bet) looking like an attractive bet. SEVILLA are another Spanish side that look like being lively contenders this season, with most people expecting them to account for Braga in the Champions League play-offs. Bet365 go 16/1 that they make amends by winning this piece of silverware.

Perhaps the winning team will come from Group A but will be JUVENTUS (16/1 Blue Square) rather than Manchester City. The Old Lady of Turin cruised into the group stage after beating Sturm Graz and will be looking to avoid a repeat of that embarrassing defeat by Fulham last season which saw the Italian team in absolute control before Fabio Cannavaro got sent off at Craven Cottage.

There are many other Italian teams in the Europa League and NAPOLI (33/1 bet365) could give Liverpool a run for their money in Group K. PALERMO are 40/1 chances with bet365, while SAMPDORIA could be the pick of the bunch at 40/1 (Stan James). The latter were fourth in last season’s Serie A, although some sloppy defensive play allowed Werder Bremen to account for them in the Champions League play-off.

The other team worth considering is CSKA MOSCOW, the Russian side who reached the quarter final of last season’s Champions League. It’s a surprise to see Sky Bet offering 33/1, especially when firms like Sporting Bet are trading at 20/1.