We've seen a close, though not too eventful all-English final in the Europa League this season, with Tottenham beating Man Utd 1-0 to win their first European trophy since 1984.
Both teams were also looking to secure European football for next season, with the Red Devils coming up short and Spurs getting a spot in the Champions League.
So, the curtain is down for the 2024/2025 Europa League, but let's take an early look at the 2025/2026 Europa League season and the main favourites to go all the way.
Europa League winner odds – current leaders
With this season of the Europa League just finished, the outright odds for next season are not yet available. We will keep an eye on the Europa League winner odds for you and update this article once they are out.
For now, we will take a look at some of the biggest names and most likely favourites to win the competition next season.
Most likely 2025/2026 Europa League favourites
- Roma
- Aston Villa
- Lyon
- Porto
- Bologna
- Stuttgart
- Real Betis
At this moment, we only know 12 teams that will play in the league phase of the Europa League, with one more direct spot available, which will either go to Dinamo Zagreb or Shakhtar Donetsk, depending on the outcome of the Croatian Cup final.
The remaining league phase places will be awarded to teams that secure them through the qualifiers.
Roma
While Roma's Cinderella story didn't end as they hoped for, with the team from Italy's capital securing a place in the Champions League, they still have a lot of reasons to be happy with how their season went since Claudio Ranieri took over.
The former Premier League champion took over the reins in November when Roma were 13th and with little hope of getting into Europe, but the experienced manager, who took a break from his retirement to help his hometown club, steered them to fifth place, one point behind Juventus in fourth.
Ranieri will get back to his retirement now and we're still waiting to hear who will take over from him, but Roma will certainly go into the next Europa League season as one of the favourites to win.
Aston Villa
Similarly to Roma's campaign in Serie A, Aston Villa's surge in form in the Premier League came just a bit late for them to finish in the top five and get Champions League football again.
The Villains actually had a chance to snatch this spot from Newcastle after they lost at home to Everton in the final round, but Aston Villa's hopes were squashed when their goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was sent off against Man Utd, ultimately leading to Villa's 2-0 loss at the hands of the Red Devils.
Still, despite that failure, Aston Villa had a solid campaign in the Champions League this season and ended the season in the Premier League in good form, so they will certainly be seen as the favourites to win the Europa League by many.
Our prediction
Based on the incomplete picture that we have of the teams that will play in the 2025/2026 Europa League season, we have provided you with some of our early favourites.
If we had to pick one team at this point, we would back Aston Villa to win their first major European trophy since 1982 (we're not counting their Intertoto Cup win in 2001 in this category), doing something similar to what Tottenham have done this season.
Lifelong Ipswich Town supporter who recently graduated from Durham University in French and German. Have developed a passion for European football based on my links abroad and am an avid supporter of Werder Bremen and Auxerre. Joined the MFT team in October 2024 and looking to take my first steps into the world of football journalism.
GambleAware
Although Tottenham are still the odds-on favourites to win the competition at 9/2.
That’s odds against, odds on under evens