Manchester City remain firm favourites to win European football's consolation prize following the Europa League draw for the last 32. City are 9/2 favourites after they were paired with defending champions Porto, while Manchester United are second favourites after drawing Ajax, while Stoke drifted right out in the betting with Bet 365 after they drew Valencia.
City and United are of course both in the competition after failing to qualify for the knockout phases of the Champions League. They have to console themselves with the prospect of playing in the less illustrious Europa League and they would have perhaps expected slightly easier last 32 ties.
Porto are defending champions and are currently joint top of the Portuguese Liga table, although they have lost star striker Falcao and manager Andre Villas-Boas since last season's success. City have the advantage of playing the first leg away from home and they are currently 1/3 to qualify from the tie, while Porto are 9/4.
The draw for the last sixteen was also made on Friday and if City do beat Porto they would meet Legia Warsaw or Sporting Lisbon in the next round.
Manchester United are 7/1 to win the Europa League with B365 and they come up against four time European champions Ajax. The Dutch side aren't the force they once were, although this is still an attractive tie. United will be hugely disappointed to not to be in the Champions League, a competition that they have enjoyed so much success in, and they will have to make do with this competition.
The Reds are 3/10 to qualify from the two-legged tie with Ajax, who are 12/5 to go through, with either Lokomotiv Moscow or Athletic Bilbao waiting in the last sixteen.
The other remaining English side are Stoke and they were unfortunate to draw one of the toughest sides in the competition in Valencia. Bet365.com immediately eased Stoke out from 33/1 to 40/1 to win the competition outright, although it promises to be a fantastic opportunity for the Potters to put themselves on the European football map.
Tony Pulis's side are making their first appearance in Europe since 1975 and they are 7/4 to make it to the last sixteen, where things don't get much easier as Trabzonspor or PSV Eindhoven would be their opponents. Valencia are 2/5 favourites to qualify and the 2004 champions, who are third in La Liga, are 12/1 fourth favourites to win the competition outright.
Elsewhere, Schalke are third favourites at 10/1 with Bet 365 after they drew Viktoria Plzen, while Atletico Madrid (14/1) against Lazio (25/1) is one of the highlights of the last 32 draw.
Finally, Udinese are available at 16/1 after the joint Serie A leaders pipped Celtic to qualify from Group I in the group stages this week.
9/2 Man City
7/1 Man Utd
10/1 Schalke
12/1 Valencia
14/1 Atletico Madrid
16/1 Udinese
18/1 Athletic Bilbao
20/1 PSV Eindhoven
25/1 Porto
25/1 Lazio
28/1 Olympiakos
28/1 FC Twente
33/1 BAR
Odds provided by Bet365.com, who provide match odds and live betting in-running for all Europa League matches.
Posted: Friday, 16th December 2011
Author: Chris James
Tags: europa league, man city, man utd, stoke, bet365,
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