Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
Europa League draw simulated: Celtic vs AC Milan, Arsenal, Tottenham face tough ties
The Europa League draw takes place today, and Express Sport has simulated how the group stages could look.
Tottenham Hotspur: Team train ahead of Maccabi Haifa clash
The Europa League draw takes place today in Nyon, Switzerland, with Tottenham, Arsenal, Celtic, Leicester City and Rangers all eager to find out their groups for this season’s competition. Express has simulated the draw in an attempt to get a feel for what the group stage might look like.
Arsenal will want to improve on last season’s disappointing showing in the Europa League and make it past the round of 32.
The Gunners have significantly improved since last season’s defeat to Olympiacos, and will be one of the favourites to win the competition.
Jose Mourinho, who previously won the competition with Manchester United, will view it as the perfect chance to win his first piece of silverware with Tottenham.
Leicester are also back in Europe after an impressive fifth-place finish last season.
Express Sport has simulated today’s draw to see who the British sides could face.
JUST IN: Chelsea boss Frank Lampard criticised for transfer mistake despite £250m spending spree
Europa League draw simulated
Group A: PSV, Ludogorets, Rangers, Lech Poznan
A tough group for Steven Gerrard’s side. PSV will like their chances, and Rangers will have a difficult task ahead of them if they want to qualify.
GROUP B: Braga, Leicester, LASK, Liberec
Leicester will have it all to do if their group turns out like this. Braga and LASK both won their groups last season.
DON'T MISS
Arsenal and Atletico Madrid close to transfer agreement for midfielder
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta wants two stars sold in 36 hours
Pogba's comments to Maitland-Niles amid Man Utd transfer rumours
GROUP C: Gent, Slavia, CFR Cluj, Sivasspor
Gent were impressive last season, winning their group before pushing Roma close in the knockout stages. They should have enough to get through again.
GROUP D: Villareal, Qarabag, H Beer-Sheva, Lille
Villareal will of course be fancied, but won’t have it all their own way with Lille and Qarabag both potential banana skins. H Beer-Sheva are back in the group stage for the first time since 2017/18, when they came bottom of their group.
Get NOW TV's Sky Sports season pass now and save 25 per cent
GROUP E: Napoli, Young Boys, Hoffenheim, Zorya
Napoli would surely be the favourites in this group, but Hoffenheim and Young Boys will both be tricky customers.
GROUP F: Tottenham, Dinamo Zagreb, AEK Athens, Dundalk
Mourinho would be licking his lips if this draw came true, with Dundalk and AEK unlikely to put up too much of a fight.
GROUP G: Leverkusen, PAOK, AZ, Omonia
Leverkusen will have to deal without Kai Havertz after his summer transfer to Chelsea, and they’ll have a fairly tough group ahead of them if this simulation turns out to be correct.
GROUP H: CSKA, Sparta, Granada, Antwerp
CSKA finished bottom of their group last year and will have a point to prove, while Sparta and Antwerp failed to make the group and Granada didn’t qualify.
GROUP I: Celtic, Standard, Milan, Nice
As close to a ‘group of death’ as you can find. Celtic will be right up against it with a difficult trip to the San Siro, while Nice and Standard will also be tough opponents for Neil Lennon‘s boys.
GROUP J: Arsenal, Real Sociedad, Molde, Wolfsburg
Another tough group throughout. Arsenal should have enough quality to get by, but all three of their potential opponents would cause them issues.
GROUP K: Benfica, Rapid Wien, Tel-Aviv, CSKA Sofia
Benfica should walk through this group, having only dropped into the competition last year after they were knocked out of the Champions League.
GROUP L: Roma, Crvena Zvezda, Feyenoord, Rijeka
AS Roma and Feyenoord will be the favourites here, with Paulo Franseca’s side one of the favourites to go into the latter stages of the competition.
This article contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission on any sales of products or services we write about. This article was written completely independently, see more details here