The UEFA Europa League has come down to the last match of the season, with two undefeated teams at this stage of the tournament set to duke it out on Swiss grounds this Wednesday.
Something’s gotta give: will the Brits of Liverpool sustain their dominance in Europa League finals play, or will it be Spain’s Sevilla who will keep their own blemish-free record in this stage intact? Let’s find out more about this thrilling conclusion below.
For an in-depth look at both clubs, check out our team previews for Liverpool and Sevilla right after this. Then, go ahead and check out our prop bets for this grand finale as well for even more exciting soccer betting opportunities.
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Liverpool vs. Sevilla Preview
Where: St. Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland
When: Wednesday, May 18, 2:45 PM ET
Line: Liverpool +130 vs. Sevilla +172, tie +225; total: 2.5 – view all UEFA Europa League Final Lines
TV Broadcast: Fox Sports 1, ESPN Deportes
Betting on Liverpool
There’s no denying the outstanding job that manager Jurgen Klopp has done for Liverpool in his debut season with the proud Liverpool F.C. organization.
It’ll be interesting to see as for which Liverpool club will show up this Wednesday afternoon in beautiful Basel. Their superb showing in the European tourney should still hold up, but their manager’s own history in big games may come back to haunt them. Klopp has lost his last four cup-final appearances with him at the helm, including a crushing loss to Manchester City in this year’s League Cup via penalty shootout.
Nevertheless, the Merseysiders still have a formidable defense in tow, plus a superior striker in Philippe Coutinho leading the attack. The Rio de Janeiro native has a whopping 12 goals this season and has even looked much better operating from the offense’s left-midfielder slot of late.
With a shut-down defense and Coutinho in prime form, Liverpool are in still terrific shape to win their first Europa League title in over a decade (2005).
Betting on Sevilla
Much like Liverpool, Sevilla are going all-in at the Europa Final this Wednesday after a lackluster campaign in La Liga competition. The 3-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday had manager Unai Emery’s boys end up seventh in Spain’s top-heavy league.
Then again, Los Rojiblancos make up for their domestic struggles by putting on their best shows in the Europa’s side of things. They are the league’s back-to-back defending champs and could very well end up as the first club to pull off a three-peat in tournament history.
Working against Sevilla, however, is their dismal output on the road. While St. Jakob-Park is technically neutral territory, it’s worth noting that the team has tallied just nine points and 13 goals in La Liga matches played outside of the confines of Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
All hope is not lost for Los Nervionenses, though. They’re equally stout on defense like Liverpool, having surrendered just an average of 0.88 goals per game behind a couple of experienced midfielders in Ever Banega, Coke and Grzegorz Krychowiak holding down the defense’s fort.
Perhaps what Sevilla must figure out is how they can muster up goals without having to count on standout forward Kevin Gameiro in every play. Gameiro racked up seven goals in this campaign, but that’s exactly half of the club’s meager total of 14 goals in Europa League play already.
Writer’s Prediction
Liverpool (+130) prevent Sevilla from winning a third-straight Europa League title with a narrow 2-1 victory in regulation.
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