Chelsea Favourites For Europa League After Quarter Final Draw

The draw for the quarter-final stages of the UEFA Europa League took place on Friday and the odds for all remaining teams have subsequently been revised. The draw is as follows:

• Arsenal v Napoli

• Villareal v Valencia

• Benfica v Eintracht Frankfurt

• Slavia Prague v Chelsea

The quarterfinals are played over two legs with the aggregate winner going forward into the semi-final. Both legs are played in April on the 11th and 18th.

Chelsea are the new favourites to win the 2019 UEFA Europa League following their very impressive 5-0 away win at Dynamo Kiev where French striker Olivier Giroud scored a hat trick. Chelsea are quoted at odds of 7/4 with most of the best betting sites in the UK to win the tournament and therefore qualify for next season’s Champions League.  The Blues will not find it easy against Slavia Prague who came back in extra time to beat Seville 4-3 in the last round of 16.

Premier League side Arsenal also qualified for the quarter-finals and face a very tough game against Napoli who overcame Red Bull Salzburg by 4-3 on aggregate. The Gunners are battling with Chelsea for a top 4 finish in the Premier League but may yet end up playing their London rivals in the Europa League Final. Bookmakers are generally quoting Arsenal at odds of 9/2 for winning the tournament.

Two of La Liga’s most progressive teams also meet in the quarterfinals with Valencia probably expected to progress to the semi-final stage as they are currently seventh in the League as opposed to Villareal who are just above the relegation places in seventeenth position.

The 2019 Europa League Final will be played on the 29th May at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan. It will be the first time that a European Club competition final has been held in Azerbaijan and will also be the first time that a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system has been used in the Europa League.