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The three European tournaments, the UEFA Champions League, the Europa League and the Europa Conference League have arrived at the final stage, and each final features at least one English club. However, the Europa League kicks off the festivities today in a match featuring two teams from the EPL, Tottenham and Manchester United.
While both clubs are typically associated with the cream of the crop in English soccer, this season has not been the case. The Hotspurs (38 points) and Red Devils (39 points) sit just outside of the relegation zone in 16th and 17th, and if it weren’t for a trio of terrible seasons from each team promoted from the Championship last season, both clubs would be in a relegation scrap.
However, the tune of the season can change mightily with any trophy, and a European trophy would go a long way for either team. Let’s review each team’s path to the final and provide my favorite Europa League Final DFS soccer picks for today’s contest in Bilbao, Spain.
Tottenham enters this game under the guidance of Ange Postecoglou, who is in his second season in charge of the North London club. He’s famously been quoted as saying that he always wins things in his second season, which is a fact, but he’ll need to win today to keep that streak alive. He guided his team this far without too many issues, as Spurs went 5-2-1 in the League phase before knocking out AZ Alkmaar (4-2 aggregate), Eintracht Frankfurt (2-1 aggregate) and Bodo/Glimt (5-1 aggregate). Outside of needing to come back from a one-goal deficit after the first leg with AZ Alkmaar, Spurs haven’t had too many issues getting to this point in the tournament.
Dominic Solanke has led this team in the Europa League, as the English striker has 5 goals and 4 assists in 12 matches. However, this team can beat you in multiple ways, as James Maddison (3 goals and 3 assists), Brennan Johnson (4 goals and 1 assists), Pedro Porro (2 goals and 3 assists), Son Heung-min (3 goals and 1 assists) and Dejan Kulusevski (1 goal and 3 assists) are all capable of being dangerous on the attack. I don’t expect Maddison to start after suffering a knee injury, but his inclusion in the squad was a surprise nonetheless.
Like Tottenham, it has been a rough season for Manchester United. After starting the season with Erik ten Hag leading the club, the Dutch manager was sacked in October before Ruben Amorim took over at the start of November. It hasn’t exactly been a fairytale start for the Portuguese manager in the league, as the club has just 0.92 points per match, but the Europa League has been a completely different story. Man United hasn’t lost in Europe under Amorim, as the club is 8-2-0 in Europe since he took over. In that time, they posted four straight victories in the League phase before eliminating Real Sociedad, Lyon and Athletic Club.
The Red Devils are led by Bruno Fernandes, who has 7 goals and 4 assists in 13 matches, but Rasmus Højlund has played well in the competition, posting 6 goals and 2 assists. Man United has other threats in Alejandro Garnacho (1 goal and 4 assists) and Amad Diallo (2 goals and 1 assist), and they just received a notable boost on the injury front. Diallo, Joshua Zirkzee and Diogo Dalot could all return for the Red Devils today, which would be a big win, as all three players have had pivotal moments this year for the squad.
Both teams have suffered injuries this year, but Tottenham’s struggles are more to blame on injuries compared to Man United’s. Another big boost for Spurs will be that they have their first-choice backline healthy, as Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky Van de Ven and Destiny Udogie are finally all back. Although Spurs are missing key players in the midfield, the return of a healthy back four cannot be understated and could prove to be the difference tonight.
However, when looking at DFS soccer picks, it’s hard to ignore Man United’s Bruno Fernandes. The team captain is pivotal to the Red Devils’ success and impacts nearly every game. Bruno has a goal or an assist in five of their six knockout matches in the Europa League and leads the team in both categories. Additionally, he’s the team’s penalty taker, which is another plus. Therefore, my main pick for this Europa League Final is for Fernandes to find the back of the net or assist one of his teammates.
Luke Lindholm is an avid basketball, baseball, football, hockey and soccer fan who specializes in writing promotional content for multiple sportsbooks and prediction-based articles across a variety of sports. His work has been featured on prominent websites including Sports Illustrated, Pickswise, Men’s Journal, TheStreet, Athlon Sports and more. He started as a college football handicapper for Pickswise in 2016 and is a current member of the Pickswise NFL handicapping team.