Sunderland’s Europa League odds stack up against Juventus and Celtic, with a surprise favourite | OneFootball

Sunderland launch their Europa League campaign at home to AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday, and Opta’s numbers put the Black Cats among the leading contenders. They arrive after a promising display in Saturday night’s home defeat against the reigning Premier League champions Arsenal.

According to Sunderland Echo, Opta’s model gives Sunderland an 8.3% chance of winning the competition, ahead of Juventus on 7.8%, while Celtic are rated at 0.5%.

AZ begin their 26th European season, their first in 1977/78 ending with a second-round penalty shoot-out loss to Barcelona. In recent seasons they reached the Europa Conference League quarter-final and semi-final, and the Europa League last 16 in 2024/25.

Sunderland are in Europe for only the second time and the first since 1973/74, a return after 53 years. The Black Cats are expected to claim a home win on opening night of the league phase and hope to build towards meetings with Torreense, Lech Poznan, Dinamo Zagreb, Jagiellona, Anderlecht, Levski Sofia and AC Milan.

Bournemouth are the surprise favourites on 14.3%, just ahead of Benfica on 14% and Bayer Leverkusen on 10.2%. Union Saint-Gilloise are at 8.6%, followed by Juventus on 7.8%, Crystal Palace 7.3% and AC Milan 5.4%.

Source: Sunderland Echo

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”