Europa League: Chelsea favourites after Group stage draw

“Long journeys could be a drain on the Gunners’ resources, as they’ll have to travel almost 5,000 miles to play their away matches, including 2,400 miles to Azerbaijan when they play Qarabag in Baku.”

Chelsea are [7.0] favourites to win this season’s Europa Leagua after the draw for the Group stage pitted them against Greek side PAOK Salonika, BATE Borisov of Belarus and Hungarian team Vidi.

Chelsea won the Europa League in 2013 under Rafael Benitez’s management and bettors think they’re the team best placed to win the competition this time.

The certainly have a strong squad and have started the new season in fine form under new boss Maurizio Sarri, winning their first three Premier League matches. They’re [14.5], behind Liverpool and Manchester City, to win the Premier League.

The question is, how seriously will Chelsea take the Europa League? If they are within touch of top spot in the Premier League then that will surely be their priority. If Chelsea can’t keep up with the likes of City in the Premier League, then Sarri might decide that winning the Europa League would amount to a good first season at Stamford Bridge. In which case, expect to see big names like Eden Hazard and N’Golo Kante involved on Thursday nights.

Arsenal have a tougher group than Chelsea, as Unai Emery’s team have to play Sporting Lisbon. The Portuguese team have made a decent start to their domestic season, while the Gunners have lost two of their three opening matches. They are, however, [9.0] second favourites to win the competition.

Long journeys could also be a drain on the Gunners’ resources, as they’ll have to travel almost 5,000 miles to play their away matches, including 2,400 miles to Azerbaijan when they play Qarabag in Baku.

As for the Scottish clubs, SPL champions Celtic have draw Salzburg, RB Leipzig and Rosenborg while Rangers face Rapid Vienna, Villarreal and Spartak Moscow. Steven Gerrard knows what it takes to win in Europe, of course, having lead Liverpool to the 2005 Champions League title.

He’ll be raring to test his managerial mettle in Europe when the first round of Group stage matches take place on Thursday 20 September.