In today's world, AI is taking over every aspect of our lives, including football. And we are not talking only about the footballing data, which the club’s analysts are using for training and tactics; we are also talking about predictions. Long gone are the days when a German octopus was predicting the winner of the World Cup, we now have Opta supercomputer. This data modelling tool, run by Opta Analyst, uses real-time sports statistics to simulate games and forecast season outcomes. Rather than being a single physical machine, it is an advanced predictive software model run on high-powered servers by a dedicated team of data scientists. The Opta supercomputer is called upon for all major competitions, from the World Cup to the Premier League, and since the UEFA Europa League starts today, the famous computer has been tasked with calculating who will win the second-best competition in UEFA.##TWITTER_<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">🏆 The Europa League is back this week…<br><br> … and the Opta supercomputer is predicting a third straight English winner 🤖 <a href="https://t.co/74ACbopIqZ">pic.twitter.com/74ACbopIqZ</a></p>— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) <a href="https://x.com/OptaAnalyst/status/2099523609093877808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>##Believe it or not, Opta did its simulations and the result was shocking – Bournemouth have the best chance of winning the Europa League! This year’s competition features some big European clubs like Juventus, Milan, Lyon, Benfica, Marseille, as well as former Conference League winners Crystal Palace and Olympiacos, but Opta ran through its simulations, and the Cherries are seen lifting the trophy in 14.3% of time. The second-placed Benfica is just there with 14% of chance, while Leverkusen are the third favourites with 10.2% chance. Giants like Juventus, Milan and Lyon are far behind in 6th, 8th and 10th place, while Belgian Union Saint-Gilloise and England’s Sunderland are given more chances of winning the competition!##TWITTER_<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The wait is over. Matchday 1 starts today! 🤩<a href="https://x.com/hashtag/UEL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UEL</a> <a href="https://t.co/NSQ52BEx9j">pic.twitter.com/NSQ52BEx9j</a></p>— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) <a href="https://x.com/EuropaLeague/status/2100133768400887949?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>##It’s interesting that Bournemouth have lost some important players this off-season, have a new coach, are still winless in the Premier League and have never played in Europe, but are favorites by Opta. In recent seasons, Opta managed to get it right two times, while also missing twice. In 2025 and 2024 their favorites eventually became winners (Aston Villa, Tottenham), while in 2023 and 2022 they predicted that Liverpool and Arsenal will lift the trophy, but Atalanta and Seville won it instead.UEFA Europa LeagueRound 1Wednesday19.45: (4.90) Ararat A. (3.60) Sparta Praha (1.67)19.45: (3.70) Omonia (3.40) Celta (2.05)22.00: (2.85) Anderlecht (3.50) Olympique Lyon (2.40)22.00: (3.60) Hapoel B.S. (3.45) Dinamo Zagreb (1.95)22.00: (1.10) Leverkusen (11.0) Celje (18.0)22.00: (2.30) Milan (3.45) Benfica (3.05)22.00: (1.42) Olympiakos (4.50) Jagiellonia (7.75)22.00: (3.90) Sturm (3.60) Rennes (1.92)22.00: (1.55) Sunderland (4.30) AZ Alkmaar (5.80)Thursday19.45: (2.95) Levski Sofia (3.50) Salzburg (2.35)19.45: (8.50) OFI (4.80) Hoffenheim (1.38)22.00: (1.77) Besiktas (3.60) Olympique Marseille (4.80)22.00: (1.72) Celtic (3.70) Ferencvaros (5.00)22.00: (1.40) Crystal Palace (4.70) Lech Poznan (8.00)22.00: (1.23) Juventus (6.50) NEC (12.0)22.00: (1.53) Lillestrom (3.90) Torreense (5.80)22.00: (2.75) Plzen (3.35) St.Gilloise (2.55)22.00: (3.10) Sociedad (3.40) Bournemouth (2.30)*** odds are subject to change***##SOFASCORE_<iframe id="sofa-standings-embed-138315-96522" src="https://widgets.sofascore.com/embed/tournament/138315/season/96522/standings?widgetTitle=UEFA+Europa+League&showCompetitionLogo=true&widgetTheme=light" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="width:100%!important; height:1763px!important;max-width:768px!important;"></iframe><div style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;text-align:left"> Standings provided by <a target="_blank" href="https://sofascore.com/">Sofascore</a> </div>##
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