Credit: Imago

Jack Dawson

Fri 20 March 2026 9:22, UK

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Aston Villa are the favourites for the Europa League title, according to Opta, after they cruised past Lille Olympique Sporting Club on Thursday.

Unai Emery’s side won 2-0 at Villa Park to win the tie 3-0 on aggregate.

As a result, Villa have now progressed into the quarter-finals of the competition and will face Serie A side Bologna.

Despite Nottingham Forest also progressing, Opta on 20 March has insisted that Aston Villa are still the heavy favourites to win the competition at 30.72 per cent.

However, it remains to be seen if Emery’s side can continue to perform as they prepare for a tricky Bologna showdown.

Aston Villa heavy favourites for Europa League title

With Villa aiming to qualify for the Champions League and end their major trophy drought, winning the Europa League would kill two birds with one stone.

Despite their recent dip in form in the Premier League, they saw out a professional job on Thursday to progress into the next round.

Now, despite having arguably the hardest quarter-final opponent, the supercomputer believes Villa have a 73.77 per cent chance of reaching the semi-finals and a 47.08 per cent chance of getting to the final.

In comparison, Opta gives Forest little chance at all of winning the competition.

At 7.91 per cent, they have the third-lowest odds of any side left in the Europa League of winning the cup.

Their chances of overcoming Porto in the quarter-finals are deemed at 40.27 per cent. If they were to progress, they would face either Villa or Bologna, with the odds of progressing into the final standing at 15.27 per cent.

Who else is in the running to win the Europa League?

With former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively telling Football Insider that Champions League qualification could bag Villa an extra £50million, they will no doubt be keen to win the Europa League. 

However, despite being heavy favourites, there are plenty of other European sides who are considered to be well in the race to win the cup.

According to Opta, Porto are the second-favourites to win the Europa League at 15.84 per cent.

This will come as little surprise given the Portuguese giants’ excellent record in Europe throughout their history.

Following this is Celta Vigo at 13.48 per cent and Real Betis at 12.63 per cent. These odds are no doubt boosted by the fact that they are on the other side of the draw to Villa, Porto and Forest.

A potential outsider is Braga at 9.15 per cent, with the club impressively dismantling Ferencvaros 4-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.