Europa League Returns, News, Scores and Odds

Since away goals were done away with, ties will be contested over two legs, with the second leg concluding on Thursday, February 23. When the round of 16 draws is made on Friday, February 24th, the eight play-off winners will join the eight group winners; the eight play-off losers will be eliminated from European competition for the 2022–23 season. Find out more about Europa League returns, news, and odds in this article. 

Europa League Play-Offs: Game-By-Game Preview

In the knockout phase of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League, eight games will be played. On Thursday, February 16th, eight teams will kick off the play-off rounds of the UEFA Europa League, including Barcelona, Manchester United, Roma, and Ajax. Find out everything there is to know about every match.

Salzburg vs. Roma

Matthias Jaissle’s Salzburg squad has never faced Roma before, but they should not be intimidated by the team’s reputation. This fall, Salzburg and AC Milan played in Austria and tied 1-1. Last year, José Mourinho led Roma to the UEFA Europa League title. 

Key Stats:

In their most recent play, Salzburg defeated Austria Lustenau by a score of 4-0, while putting nine shots on target. In this Bundesliga match played at Red Bull Arena, they had 61% possession of the ball, and Fernando, Nicolas Seiwald, and Nicolas Capaldo scored goals for their team. At the Stadio Via del Mare, Roma and Lecce played to a scoreless draw despite Roma having five shots on target. In this match played in Serie A, Paulo Dybala scored a goal.

In their last 15 games this season, Red Bull Salzburg has not been defeated. The team has won 13 of their last 17 games. Red Bull Salzburg have won 11 of their last 17 matches this season by a margin of two goals or more. The last 20 games they’ve played have resulted in 12 clean sheets.

Barcelona vs Man United

In a playoff, the tournament’s top two seeds will face off to determine who advances to the Sweet 16. As of right now, Barcelona is playing better than any other team in LaLiga. Their most recent victory over Villarreal increased their advantage to 11 points, with Real Madrid still having a game in hand. The Blaugrana have won one trophy already this season, and they’ll be hungry to add to their collection.

Nonetheless, Manchester United is also performing well. Even though Erik Ten Hag’s squad got off to a sluggish start, they’re clearly on the up and up now that they’ve made it to the Carabao Cup final and are in the top three of the Premier League.

Key Stats

FC Barcelona and Manchester United have faced off in several games so far. Five games were won by FC Barcelona, twelve by Manchester United, and one by Spotify Camp Nou, while two games ended in draws on both the road and at home. The two teams have met four times before, twice with Fc Barcelona coming out on top and once with Manchester United taking the match. Fc Barcelona and Manchester United have met 1 times in the INT CF, with a record of 0 wins each for Fc Barcelona and 1 draws. Both FC Barcelona and Manchester United have played each other twice before in the ICC, with FC Barcelona winning four of those games and the two teams drawing the other.

Sevilla vs PSV Eindhoven

Sevilla fans will not look back on the fall of 2022 with fondness; after a string of dismal performances cost Julen Lopetegui his job, his replacement Jorge Sampaoli was unable to turn things around before the World Cup break. The six-time winners of the UEFA Cup and Europa League set up this first encounter with PSV, one of the clubs where defender Karim Rekik previously played, by finishing third in their Champions League group. PSV manager and former Real Madrid and Málaga forward Ruud van Nistelrooy scored twice in five career matches against Sevilla during his stint in Spain.

Key Stats

With 15 goals, PSV led all teams in the Europa League group stage this season.

Ajax vs Union Berlin

Ajax’s fall in the Champions League was rough. They won two games against Rangers but lost at home to Liverpool (3-0) and Napoli (6-2). Alfred Schreuder, the team’s coach, also resigned at the end of January, and John Heitinga took over for the remainder of the season. Union Berlin will play in the Europa League for the first time, while Ajax will play in the competition for the first time. Ajax will be hoping for a more friendly environment, but they will need to be wary of Urs Fischer’s team, which has won its last four European games by a score of 1-0.

Key Stats

In the last six home games Ajax has played against German teams in the UEFA Cup or Europa League, they have won each one by at least two goals.

Shakhtar vs Rennes

Since the regular Ukrainian season doesn’t start again until March of 2023, fans with long memories may recall that these clubs met in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup group stage, with Shakhtar winning the one-off encounter 1-0 in France. However, times have changed as Igor Jovievi’s side prepares for their first game of 2023. Over the course of a 17-game unbeaten run from August until the FIFA World Cup break, Bruno Génésio’s Rennes team defeated Shakhtar’s longtime rivals Dynamo Kyiv twice in the Europa League group stage.

Key Stats

Shakhtar has only won once in four attempts in Warsaw, a 3-2 UEFA Cup victory over Legia in 2006/07. This season in the Champions League group stage, they went 0-3.

Juventus vs Nantes

On Thursday, a UEFA Europa League match between Juventus and Nantes is scheduled to take place at the Allianz Stadium. Juventus enters this match on the heels of a victory in the league match against Vincenzo Italiano’s Fiorentina, which they won 1-0. The victory was achieved for Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus with a goal scored by French midfielder Adrien Rabiot in the first half of play. On the other hand, Regis Le Bris’ Lorient was defeated by Nantes in the league competition. Ludovic Blas, a midfielder for Nantes, scored the game-winning goal in the second half to give Antoine Kombouare’s team the victory.

Key Stats

In the Europa League, Juventus has never met Nantes before. Dusan Vlahovic, a Serbian striker for Juventus, has netted eight goals in 12 league appearances. Adrien Rabiot, a French midfielder, has helped contribute to six goals in 17 Serie A starts for Juventus. Nantes midfielder Ludovic Blas has started every game this season, contributing to six goals in the league. Forward Moses Simon, a Nigerian international who has started 19 times for Nantes in the league and scored five times, has scored two goals.

Sporting CP vs Midtjylland

Sporting CP, who were relegated to the UEFA Europa League after losing in the UEFA Champions League group stage, will face Midtjylland at Estádio José Alvalade on Thursday in a play-in game for the quarterfinals. During the final match of the group stage of the Champions League, Sporting CP lost 2-1 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt. With the loss, Arthur Gomes got on the board. In their final group stage encounter, Midtjylland defeated Sturm Graz 2-0 at home. Anders Dreyer scored both goals and was the only player to do so. They haven’t won in their last three games in all competitions since then (W0 D2 L1). Second in the group was Midtjylland with eight points, followed by Sporting CP in third place with seven.

Key Stats

This season in the Europa League, the away team has scored in each of their last five games. After being shut out by Sturm Graz in the group stage, they haven’t suffered another shutout in a competitive match since. This season in Sporting CP’s three home games in the group stage of the Champions League, they went 1-and-3. Midtjylland has yet to win on the road this season, having suffered two defeats and a tie thus far. The Danish team is trying to end a losing skid of four matches away from home across all competitions (W0 D2 L2).

Leverkusen vs Monaco

Kevin Volland, who was unhappy about leaving Leverkusen for Monaco in the summer of 2020, will return to the BayArena after re-establishing himself as a striker in Ligue 1. Manager Philippe Clement faced Bayer Leverkusen when he was a player for Club Brugge, scoring in a 1-1 UEFA Cup tie that season. Monaco leads Leverkusen, 4-1, in the Champions League. Advice from his past self may be available to him. In the Champions League group stage this season, Clement’s former club, Club Brugge, went 1-0 at home and 0-0 on the road against Leverkusen.

Key Stats

Only one of Leverkusen’s first seven games under new coach Xabi Alonso ended in a victory, but the team went on a five-game winning streak in the Bundesliga before and after the holiday break.

The return legs are scheduled for Saturday, February 23rd, a week following the opening legs. The winners of the matches advance to the round of 16, where they will be entered without a seed, on February 24. Arsenal, Betis, Fenerbahçe, Ferencváros, Feyenoord, Freiburg, Real Sociedad, Union Saint-Gilloise, and Union Saint-Gelain are the top seeds.

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Predictions and Odds to Win the Europa League in 2023

After the group stage of the UEFA Europa League 2022–23 ended, the 16 teams that will move on to the next round have just been decided. The futures markets have been updated to include all of the best teams that have advanced to the round of 32 playoffs in the bracket. These teams range from the favorites to the unlikely winners.

Europa League Upcoming Matches Odds From Stake.com

• Shakhtar – Rennes: W1 – 3.30, Draw – 3.45, W2 – 2.24
• Barcelona – Manchester United: W1 – 1.78, Draw – 4.0, W2 – 4.30
• Ajax – Union: W1 – 1.96, Draw – 3.55, W2 – 4.00
• Salzburg – Roma: Ц1 – 2.80, Draw – 3.30, W2 – 2.60
• Sporting CP – Midtjylland: W1 – 1.35, Draw – 5.40, W2 – 8.60
• Bayer – Monaco: W1 – 1.96, Draw – 3.80, W2 – 3.75
• Sevilla – PSV Eindhoven: W1 – 2.26, Draw – 3.45, W2 – 3.25
• Juventus – Nantes: W1 – 1.39, Draw – 4.90, W2 – 8.40

Strong favorites most likely to win: Manchester United (Premier League) = +800 (9.00), Juventus (Serie A) = +1200 (13.00), Ajax (Eredivisie) = +1200 (13.00), Real Sociedad (La Liga) = +1400 (15.00), Arsenal (Premier League) = +400 (5.00). Even though Sevilla has won the UEFA Cup six times before, their performance in the domestic competition in 2022 doesn’t look good for their chances of doing as well as they have in the past. As a result, the best online bookmakers in Free Betting Reviews believe the Spanish team will perform worse than some of the other teams in the tournament. However, there are a number of other Spanish powerhouse clubs, including Barcelona, Real Sociedad, and Real Betis, that are distributed across the top of the ranking.

In February 2023, if Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United beat Robert Lewandowski and Barcelona in the Round of 32 of the Europa League playoffs, they might be able to save what has been an otherwise disappointing season for Ronaldo and the Red Devils. But don’t bet on either side as a likely winner of the competition, because they are both in the group of highest-priced outright winners with the most competition.