Europa League Final Odds: Liverpool Favored Over Sevilla In Basel Showdown
Sevilla will be aiming to claim a third consecutive UEFA Europa League championship Wednesday when it battles Liverpool in the final as +210 betting underdogs at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Sevillistas are coming off a dominating 3-1 victory over Shakhtar Donetsk earlier this month in the second leg of their semifinal matchup, easily advancing by an aggregate score of 5-3. But Sevilla has claimed just one victory in its past five games heading into Wednesday afternoon’s final at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland.
Sevilla has struggled down the stretch in La Liga play, getting outscored by an 8-2 margin in three losses to wrap up the campaign in seventh place. The club failed to qualify for next year’s Europa League on the strength of its record. That leaves a lot on the line for Sevilla in this year’s final.
Sevilla can lock up a berth in next year’s Europa League with a win over Barcelona in next week’s Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) final.
Despite entering the final on the heels of some shaky performances, Sevilla has been dominant in Europa League action, outscoring opponents 14-7 during this season’s tournament and losing in just four of 22 games since the beginning of last season.
Liverpool odds:
After wrapping up the Premier League season with a pair of draws to finish a disappointing eighth in the standings, Liverpool travels to Basel to take on Sevilla as solid +140 favorites at the sportsbooks.
After posting a pair of wins and four draws to advance through the knockout stages, the Reds eked out a Round of 32 win over Augsburg before outlasting Manchester United in the Round of 16. Liverpool then eliminated Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinals, stunning the tournament favorites with a 4-3 win in the second leg of their matchup while pegged as +210 underdogs.
Liverpool suffered its only defeat of this year’s tournament in the first leg of its semifinal matchup with Villarreal, dropping a 1-0 decision on the road before rebounding with a 3-0 shutout win in the second leg. But the Reds have tallied just one victory overall in their past seven contests away from Anfield.
Liverpool last won the Europa League title in 2001, failing to advance past the Round of 16 in their past three appearances. But it’s three tournament championships leaves it trailing only Sevilla, which has emerged as Europa League winners four times in the past 10 years.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@LFC
