Europa League betting: the format, the markets and how they differ from the Champions League

The Europa League is UEFA's second club competition, and its match system is the same as the Champions League's. For betting, though, there are several differences: matches are played on Thursdays, the winners change more often, the league phase has more draws, sportsbooks offer fewer markets, and the tournament winner bet costs more. We read the UEFA regulations and on 13 October measured the margin on every second-round match at three sportsbooks licensed in Latvia. Our football betting page covers the football markets.

How the Europa League works

Thirty-six teams first play in one shared league table, and only then come the knockout rounds.

The UEFA 2026/27 regulations set the same order as in the Champions League:

• League phase. Each team plays eight matches against eight different opponents, four at home and four away.
• Places 1 to 8. These teams go straight into the round of 16.
• Places 9 to 24. These teams play a two-legged knockout play-off.
• Places 25 to 36. These teams are eliminated.
• Knockout rounds. If the aggregate score is level, extra time is played at the end of the second leg, then penalties. The final is a single match at a neutral venue.

Since 2024/25 no team drops from the Champions League league phase into the Europa League (UEFA). The field for the tournament winner bet is therefore closed: once the league phase starts, no new team joins. This season the Conference League winners Crystal Palace are in the competition, while last season's Europa League winners Aston Villa moved up to the Champions League. How these same rules work in the Champions League is explained in our article on Champions League betting.

The calendar: Thursday nights

Europa League matches are played on Thursdays at 19:45 and 22:00 Latvian time, and the final is on 26 May 2027 in Frankfurt.

According to the UEFA calendar:

• League phase: 22 October, 5 November, 26 November, 10 December, 21 January and 28 January, when all 18 matches are played at the same time.
• Knockout play-offs: 18 and 25 February.
• Round of 16: 11 and 18 March.
• Quarter-finals: 8 and 15 April.
• Semi-finals: 29 April and 6 May.
• Final: Wednesday 26 May at Stadion Frankfurt, ten days before the Champions League final.

Matchday 3 is on Thursday 22 October (UEFA):

• 19:45: Juventus - Rennes, Ferencváros - Torreense, Union SG - Hapoel Beer-Sheva, GNK Dinamo - N.E.C., Sturm Graz - Marseille, Lech Poznań - Sunderland, OFI Crete - Leverkusen, Ararat-Armenia - AZ Alkmaar.
• 22:00: Olympiacos - Sparta Praha, Viktoria Plzeň - Levski Sofia, Celtic - Celta, Bournemouth - Milan, Celje - Salzburg, Jagiellonia - Anderlecht, Omonia - Benfica, Hoffenheim - Lyon, Beşiktaş - Crystal Palace, Lillestrøm - Real Sociedad.

There are no Latvian clubs in the Europa League this season. On the same evening at 19:45, Riga FC play away to Pafos in the Conference League (UEFA).

What the last ten seasons show

Nine different clubs have won the Europa League in the last ten seasons, against six in the Champions League.

According to UEFA's history, only Sevilla won twice in that period, and they hold seven titles in all. English and Spanish clubs took four of the last ten titles each: Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham and Aston Villa for England, and Atlético, Sevilla twice and Villarreal for Spain.

One more fact matters for betting. Three of the last ten finals, in 2021, 2022 and 2023, were level after 90 minutes and decided on penalties. Because the match result bet (1X2) covers regular time, a bet on either finalist lost in those finals, the draw won, and a bet on the tournament winner paid those who had backed the shoot-out winner.

The league phase has more draws than the Champions League. Over two seasons about 21% of Europa League matches ended in a draw, with 2.76 goals per match on average, while in the Champions League draws were about 15% and goals about 3.3 per match (futbol24). This is a two-season comparison only, not a prediction.

Which markets Latvian sportsbooks offer

There are far fewer tournament bets on the Europa League than on the Champions League, and fewer markets per match too.

On 13 October we saw these tournament bets at Latvian sportsbooks:

• 11.lv and Optibet: the tournament winner only.
• OlyBet: the winner, to reach the final, league phase winner and top 8 in the league phase.
• A top scorer bet was offered by none of the three.

The Champions League had top scorer bets and other tournament markets at the same time. The number of markets per Europa League match was also roughly half to three quarters of the number for a Champions League match.

The rules are the same as for the Champions League. A match result bet settles after 90 minutes plus stoppage time: in the Optibet rules (4.4.1.1.1) that is "90 minūtes (2 puslaiki pa 45 min.)+ kompensācijas laiks". Extra time and penalties count only in bets on which team reaches the next round or wins the tournament.

What the bets cost: our measurement

In our measurement the margin on match bets averaged 4.3% to 6.5% depending on the sportsbook, and on the tournament winner 30% to 33%.

Matchday 3 odds were not yet available on 13 October, so we recorded the 1X2 odds for all 18 Matchday 2 matches (15 October) at 11.lv, OlyBet and Optibet and calculated the margin. An example: Salzburg - Milan at OlyBet at 4.10 / 3.85 / 1.78. The implied probabilities are 24.39% + 25.97% + 56.18% = 106.54%, so the margin is 6.54%. The same match carried 5.25% at 11.lv, and 4.34% when taking the highest of the three prices.

Averages across all 18 matches:

• 11.lv: 4.30% in the Europa League and 4.94% in the Champions League at the same moment.
• OlyBet: 6.51% in the Europa League and 4.23% in the Champions League.
• Optibet: 5.54% in the Europa League and 6.04% in the Champions League.
• Highest price of the three: 3.38% in the Europa League and 3.27% in the Champions League.

So there is no single rule: at one sportsbook the Europa League was dearer, at two it was slightly cheaper, and comparing odds cut the margin by almost the same amount in both competitions. Why that is so is explained in our article on sports betting strategies.

The tournament winner market carried a margin of 32.6% at 11.lv, 30.4% at OlyBet and 30.8% at Optibet, while the Champions League winner market was 23% to 26% in our 9 October measurement. The favourite at all three sportsbooks was Juventus at 7.00. That is a 14.3% chance, or about 11% with the margin removed: even by the market's own reckoning the favourite would fail to win roughly eight times in nine. Before the league phase the Opta model saw a different favourite, Bournemouth with a 14.3% chance, and ranked Juventus only sixth (The Analyst). Neither a model nor a price decides the result.

Odds change every day, so these figures are a snapshot, not a comparison of sportsbooks. How to turn odds into a probability is explained in our betting basics.

The winner's prize: a Champions League place

The Europa League winner earns a place in the next season's Champions League league phase.

The UEFA calendar says the 2026/27 winners will gain a place in the 2027/28 Champions League league phase if they have not qualified through their domestic league. If the winner also qualifies domestically, the spare place is not passed down that country's table but goes to the club with the highest coefficient in Champions League qualifying (Premier League). Last season's winners, Aston Villa, are playing in the Champions League this season. The winner also plays the Champions League winner in the UEFA Super Cup in August.

Where to bet on the Europa League

In Latvia you may only bet with operators licensed by the State Revenue Service.

Since 1 April 2026 gambling has been supervised by the State Revenue Service, which publishes the list of licensed operators. Optibet, Laimz and Klondaika, all licensed in Latvia, use the same sports betting rules, so the Optibet sections quoted in this article apply to all three. If you bet during matches our guide to live betting will help, and we list the sportsbooks' risk-free bet offers on our risk-free bets page.

Play within your means

A Europa League evening has 18 matches, in the same week as the Champions League matches, so it is easy to stake more than you planned. Set a budget for the whole week and stop when it is spent. Our responsible gambling page gathers the tools that help, and how to join the self-exclusion register kept by the State Revenue Service is explained in a separate article. The addiction support line of the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 67037333, is anonymous (in Latvian). Betting is for people aged 18 and over only.