The Europa League has been made increasingly important over the course of the last several years with a lot of additional prize money to be won as well as a coveted spot in the Champions League for next year. For Liverpool and Sevilla, the Europa League Final at St. Jakob Park on Wednesday is even more important. One will go on to play in the UCL next year. The other won't even have European soccer to play in next year.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Liverpool +138
Sevilla +212
Draw +230
Over/Under 2.5 (under -135)
ODDS ANALYSIS
This is a really big week for Sevilla for sure. Not only does it have to play this match, but on Sunday, it draws Barcelona in the Copa del Rey Final. This is the match which is easier to win for sure.
Sevilla is still a dog to win this match, but it's only +150 to hoist the trophy in Basel. Liverpool is +138 to win this inside of 90 minutes.
The total of 2.5 and -135 vig on the under is somewhat high for a Cup final.
KEY INJURIES
It was interesting to see Danny Ings and Jordan Henderson used as substitutes on Sunday. With the spot in the Champions League potentially looming, Jurgen Klopp decided to basically punt the last match at West Brom and give up a potential shot at the Europa League as a backdoor in case this failed.
But Ings and Henderson have been long term absentees, and the fact that both were used as subs last Sunday is proof that perhaps both could be called upon as subs in this match.
LIVE BETTING
These two teams took very different routes to the Europa League Final.
Sevilla has been here and done this before, winning each of the last two secondary European tournaments in somewhat shocking fashion. The Spanish side dropped into the Europa in each of the last two years after failing at the group stage and finishing third. Since then, Sevilla has gone on its run, taking care of Molde in the Round of 32, Basel in the Round of 16, Athletic Bilbao in penalties in the quarters, and Shakhtar Donetsk in the semis. It's interesting that Sevilla has already had to play a match here at St. Jakob Park, a duel which ended in a scoreless draw a few months back.
Liverpool won its group in the Europa League, but since that point, it's had a nightmare to contend with. Taking care of FC Augsburg in the Round of 32 wasn't an issue, but from there, the Reds have had to fight it out with Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund and Villarreal. Liverpool was a dog in each of those three fixtures, and all looked lost in the quarters against BVB before Philippe Coutinho, Mamadou Sakho and Dejan Lovren rescued the side with three goals in the second half to pull off an impossible comeback.
QUICK PICK
To date, Liverpool is still the only non-Spanish side to knock a Spanish team out of a European competition. Sevilla joins Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid as finalists in major European tournaments, and the power of La Liga is certainly worth remembering here.
However, the return of Ings and Henderson should really help out a team which really needs a lot of help up front in the scoring department. Even if the Reds are down in this one relatively early, being able to call upon two really strong offensive players off the bench could be a real difference.
All things considered, it's been a really disappointing season for Sevilla, and we think it's set for a lot more disappointment here against Liverpool in the finale in Basel.
Europa League Odds: Liverpool 2, Sevilla 1
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