Bournemouth tipped to WIN Europa League in first ever season of European football as supercomputer predicts tournament

BOURNEMOUTH will become the third consecutive English team to win the Europa League, according to the Opta supercomputer. It gives the Cherries just a 0.3 per cent better chance than a European giant to notch the title. Bournemouth are the supercomputer’s favourites for the Europa League Credit: Getty It would be quite the statement from the team on the South Coast in their first ever European campaign. Opta’s supercomputer gives them a 14.3 per cent chance of lifting the trophy, with Portuguese juggernauts Benfica, now managed by Marco Silva, a close second at 14 per cent. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! Now-Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola led the Cherries to an impressive sixth place last season to secure a place in Europe’s second biggest competition. They were just three points off Liverpool, who scraped a place in the Champions League last term. Now managed by former Borussia Dortmund manager Marco Rose, Bournemouth are looking to take a step to the next level with European success. And they begin their road to Istanbul this Thursday night as they travel to the north of Spain to take on Real Sociedad. It could be considered Bournemouth’s second toughest test of the league stage before they host AC Milan next month. And the supercomputer has given the English side, who play in a stadium with 11,000 seats, more than double the chance of Milan. Most read in Sport BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS It concluded that Ruben Amorim’s sleeping Italian giants have just a 5.4 per cent chance of lifting the trophy. Other notable sides included in the supercomputer’s prediction were Bayer Leverkusen, who are considered third best, followed by the Tony Bloom-owned Union Saint Guilloise of Belgium and Bournemouth’s fellow Europa League debutants Sunderland. Comment now