Xabi Alonso rated as biggest obstacle to Liverpool's Europa League success

Liverpool are the clear favourites to lift the Europa League this season, in what would be Jurgen Klopp's final game as manager, according to the calculations of a "supercomputer".

The Reds cruised through the group stage of the competition to reach the last 16, where they await their opponents to be determined from the winners of the preliminary knockout round.

The Europa League remains the one major competition that Klopp has competed in as Liverpool boss but never won. He reached the final in his maiden season at Anfield in 2016, losing 3-1 to Sevilla.

After that, however, the Reds were Champions League regulars. Until this season.

Already the bookies' favourites, Liverpool have been given a 30.6% chance of winning this year's final in Dublin by sports betting company OLBG's "SuperComputer".

According to OLBG: "the SuperComputer uses real life information such as league positions and statistics, as well as historical data and prestige in European competitions.

"After simulating the competition 1,000 times, Liverpool won 306 times - meaning they have a 30.6% chance of winning."

The Reds' closest rivals are, according to the calculations, none other than Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen.

The Bundesliga leaders are given an 18.8% chance of victory.

Former Liverpool midfielder Alonso has, of course, been tipped to take over from Klopp at the end of the season following the German's shock decision to stand down as Reds manager.

Alonso's Leverkusen lead the Bundesliga after 21 games and are, as yet, unbeaten in all competitions in 2023/24.

In a what would be a meeting positively brimming with narrative, it is claimed that there is a 9.3% chance that Liverpool and Leverkusen will meet in the final on 22 May, raising the prospect of either manager denying the other a glorious send-off.

Overall, Klopp's Reds are given a 41.4% chance of making the final, 57.1% of making the semis and 77% of winning the next round and booking a place in the quarters.

After Liverpool and Leverkusen, it is Brighton who are tipped as the most likely side to win the competition, but the Seagulls are rated as having just a 7.5% probability of success.

Benfica, Milan and Atalanta are the next ranked, with all getting just above 6%.

Meanwhile, the other English club West Ham have got a 12.4% chance of reaching the final, but just 5.8% of lifting the trophy in Dublin.

Rangers — Europa League runners up as recently as 2022 — get a measly 0.5% chance of trophy success.

Liverpool will discover their last-16 opponents on Friday 23 February, following the conclusion of the playoff round between the Europa League group stage runners up and Champions League drop outs.

The two-legged fixtures will take place on 7 and 14 March, with the Reds playing at home in the second leg.

After that, the quarter-finals will be on 11 and 18 April and the semi-finals on 2 and 9 May. The competition will then conclude with the final in Dublin on Wednesday, 22 May, in what would be Klopp's final game as Liverpool manager.