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The UEFA Cup

Betting on the UEFA Cup

Bookmakers offer many types of football betting opportunities on the UEFA Cup, The UEFA Cup has a group stage, followed by a two-legged knockout format, so look out for the opportunity to bet on individual team goalscorers, and the overall competition winner, as well as match winners and scorecasts.

You can read about the history of the UEFA Cup here

Structure of the UEFA Cup Competition

There is a complex set of rules which decide how many places each football nation's league gets in the following year's UEFA Cup. There is a seeding system which relates to the previous performances of the respective nations club teams in the European format, and this helps decide how many places each football league will be given in the both the UEFA Cup and the Champions League.

Teams who finish behind the champions of their respective league, and who are not eligible for the Champions League are invited to take part in the UEFA Cup, as are the winners of the League Cups in the major European countries. The pre-season Inter-Toto Cup provides three entrants, and the winner of the UEFA Fair Play Award is also given entry.

There are 2 qualifying rounds of two-legs to help reduce the numbers down to 40 football teams, which are then placed in 8 groups of 5 football teams. The top three progress to the knock-out phase, along with the 8 Champions League third placed drop-outs, making 32 football teams who will play in a two-leg knockout format, all the way to the match final in May.

Betting on the UEFA Cup - The teams

The UEFA Cup involves football teams who have either won a cup competition in their respective football leagues, or had a strong top five finish (this can range from the top two, to the top seven depending on which nation's football league they are a part of). While some leagues are weaker than others, it is wise to study a team's league form, and also their previous finishes over the past few years.

Football teams that are selected from weaker leagues in countries such as Belarus and Northern Ireland generally do not progress far in the UEFA Cup.. For example, Shelbourne form the Eircom League are constantly achieving UEFA Cup qualification, but because of the standard of the Eircom football league, they regularly leave the UEFA Cup at an early stage when they meet strong opposition.

Be sure to look into the respective football teams' form over the previous years: they could have been a one-season wonder. Many teams, especially in the stronger football leagues such as Portugal or France, have the odd team that has a great season in their domestic league and qualify for Europe. However, smaller football teams often need to sell players in order to balance the books, and after a good season find themselves subject to the attention of the richer sides. Many of their star players are snatched by the bigger sides in the league, so before you back the surprise package of last year's respective football league, make sure that they are still made up of the same players.

Betting on the UEFA Cup - Round 2's Champions League Entrants

Football teams defeated in the Champions League qualifiers have the opportunity to play for a place in the UEFA Cup, and the best 3^rd place teams at the end of the Champions League group stage are also given UEFA Cup places.

In theory these teams should be stronger than many of the UEFA Cup football teams, as they must have finished higher in the football league in the previous season. However, so far no Champions League football team has made real strides in this competition since the new rule came into place. Even so, these football teams shouldn't be ignored, as it's only a matter of time before class shines through, and a team knocked-out of the Champions League will go on to win the UEFA Cup.

Betting on the UEFA Cup – The group format and 2-legged matches

The current UEFA Cup format means that after a brief qualification process for a few nations there is a two-legged match to whittle the teams down from 80 to 40, then a group stage with 8 groups of 5 football teams. Unlike the Champions League, these teams do not play each other twice (home and away). Instead they are drawn to play two away matches, and two matches at home.

The top 3 teams from each group qualify for the next stage of the UEFA Cup so home form is important. Some places are notoriously difficult to travel to. For example, a team from the warmer parts of Spain, Portugal, and Italy, might not fancy a cold midweek trip to the north of England to face Bolton.

Russia and the Eastern European countries are also very tough to go to due to both the weather and the hard, poorly kept pitches. Travelling to these places is still sometimes difficult, and can involve a long journey leaving some players jet-lagged.

In the early stages of the tournament, it's also not a good idea to put your money on football teams who have started well and have already qualified for the knock-out phase. Football teams who are through to the next stage are not likely to take their best team on a 24-hour round trip for a game without consequence, especially if there is an important domestic football match the following weekend.

In the knock-out phase look to home teams to try and gain an initiative before the second-leg. Remember that football teams from Spain and Italy tend to play their natural game, which is counter-attacking football at a slow tempo, and which is perfect for any European competition. Teams who go into the second leg with a small lead will look to hit the opposition on the break for that vital away goal, and will put the onus on the home football team to take the game to them.

The UEFA Cup can be difficult to bet on due to the amount of teams and nations involved, but as in any form of football betting, with a little research you will be able to find a method of betting that will suit each occasion.

The results of the last five UEFA Cup Finals were:

Year Result

UEFA Cup Final 2006 Seville 4-0 Middlesbrough

UEFA Cup Final 2005 Sporting Lisbon 1-3 CSKA Moscow

UEFA Cup Final 2004 Valencia 2-0 Marseille

UEFA Cup Final 2003 Celtic 2-3 Porto (aet)

UEFA Cup Final 2002 Feyenoord 3-2 Borussia Dortmund

If you are new to betting and want to place a bet on the UEFA Cup be sure to check out our Football - How To Bet section for some betting hints and tips.

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