What Makes Liverpool the Europa League Favourites in 2023/24?

Liverpool 3/1. Roma 12/1. Bayer Leverkusen 14/1.

Liverpool are being firmly backed in the predictions by bookmakers in the UK to win the Europa League this year and the reasons why are quite clear to see. The legendary Merseyside side has the pedigree, both European and domestic, to win this year’s competition.

Despite this, surprises do happen, which is one of the reasons that the Anfield club is in the Europa League in 2023/24 to begin with. So why do some of the top sites for betting believe Jürgen Klopp’s team will lift the trophy after the final whistle blows at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin come May next year?

Firstly, the Liverpool manager himself provides a strong reason. In his eight years in charge of Liverpool, Klopp has won everything domestically and in Europe that there is to win. Except the Europa League and the Europa Conference League. Of the two missing from his resume, the former is the only one Liverpool has competed for during his tenure.

The last time Liverpool competed in the Europa League was in 2015/16, the German’s first season in charge. On that occasion the English giants fell at the final hurdle, defeated 3-1 by Sevilla in the final in Switzerland.

It may not be by choice that Klopp and Liverpool have another chance at the missing trophy. What is certain, though, now that it’s arrived, the Liverpool manager will be itching to right the wrongs of that Basel night.

Besides Klopp’s insatiable appetite for success, he and his transfer team have quickly and efficiently built “Liverpool 2.0”. The manager “loves” his squad, and it’s not difficult to see why. If anything, the current unit has the capacity to be even better than Klopp’s Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners were.

The Premier League form shown by Liverpool so far this season is fast making Kopites forget last season’s fifth-place finish. In only a short space of time, Klopp has moulded his new team into one that looks like it has been together for years. The new additions, especially in midfield, have transitioned seamlessly. There is also more strength in depth in the squad this season.

Form-wise, Liverpool sit in third position after nine matches, a point behind Man City and Arsenal at the summit. But for the travesty suffered at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a few weeks ago, the team could be on top of the league. When you add their 100% Europa League form after two rounds to the mix, any football fan knows that Liverpool will be hard to beat this time around.

What of the other teams in contention? Roma, second-favourites under an increasingly restless José Mourinho, sit seventh in Serie A with four wins in nine games. Granted, the Italian side does have a 100% record in Europe, though. So do the third-favourites Bayer Leverkusen.

Leverkusen is flying high in Germany, sitting atop the Bundesliga table. Like Klopp transformed Liverpool over the off-season, so too has another Anfield favourite, Xabi Alonso, done with his Bayer side. Since taking the reins early in 2022/23 the Spaniard has taken his charges from the relegation zone in the Bundesliga to the very top.

On form, Bayer Leverkusen seems most likely to upset the Merseyside apple-cart in the Europa League this season. The bookmakers still make Liverpool favourites, though. With Klopp’s experience and Alonso’s lack of the same, The Reds appear to hold all the aces at present. Surprises do happen, but we should never expect them, should we?