Sunderland kick off their Europa League campaign with a home game against AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday night.
Sunderland kick off their historic Europa League campaign on Wednesday night when Eredivisie club AZ Alkmaar are the visitors to the Stadium of Light.
After producing a promising performance in Saturday night’s home defeat against reigning Premier League champions Arsenal, the Black Cats are in a confident mood as they prepare to face an AZ side that have reached the quarter-final and semi-final of the Europa Conference League in recent seasons and qualified for the last 16 of the Europa League during the 2024/25 campaign.
Back in Europe after a 53 year absence.placeholder image
Back in Europe after a 53 year absence. | Getty Images
This will be the start of AZ’s 26th European campaign, with their first coming in the UEFA Cup in 1977/78 before that maiden voyage came to a close with a second round penalty shoot-out defeat against Barcelona. By contrast, this will mark only Sunderland’s second European season and their first since 1973/74.
However, the Black Cats are expected to claim a home win on the opening night of the league phase of this season’s Europa League and they will hope that can lay a solid foundation for upcoming meetings with Torreense, Lech Poznan, Dinamo Zagreb, Jagiellona, Anderlecht, Levski Sofia and, of course, Serie A giants AC Milan. But what are Sunderland’s chances of winning this season’s Europa League? We take a look at who the stats experts at Opta believe are most likely to lift the Europa League trophy at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt next May.
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Opta’s Europa League winners prediction
Opta’s Europa League winners prediction.placeholder image
Opta’s Europa League winners prediction. | Getty Images
0% - Torrense, OFI, Ararat-Armenia, Celje
0.1% - Lillestrom, Hapoel Be’er Sheva, NEC
0.2% - Jagiellonia Blalystok, Viktoria Plzen, Sturm Graz
0.3% - Sparta Praha, Levski Sofia
0.5% - Celtic
0.6% - RB Salzburg, Anderlecht
0.7% - Besiktas
0.9% - Real Sociedad
1% - Celta Vigo
1.1% - AZ Alkmaar, Lech Poznan
1.2% - Omonia Nicosia
1.3% - Dinamo Zagreb, Ferencvaros
1.6% - Olympiakos, Olympique Marseille
2.3% - Hoffenheim
3.2% - Olympique Lyonnais
3.9% - Rennes
5.4% - AC Milan
7.3% - Crystal Palace
7.8% - Juventus
8.3% - Sunderland
8.6% - Union Saint-Gilloise
10.2% - Bayer Leverkusen
14% - Benfica
14.3% - Bournemouth
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