Pick and Prediction for Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Rangers on Wednesday, May 18

The 2021-22 Europa League ends on Wednesday, May 18 when Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers lock horns in the battle for the trophy. The final will take place on neutral ground – Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuán in Seville, Spain.

Up until recently, neither team was seen as a serious candidate for the title. The reason? There were many other heavyweights in the game, most notably Barcelona. However, the Spaniards ended their Europa League adventure in the quarterfinal when Eintracht Frankfurt knocked them out of the competition.

Rangers too have slain their share of soccer giants, including Borussia Dortmund in the first round of the playoffs, as well as RB Leipzig in the semifinal.

With all this in mind, my Europa League prediction is that this is going to be a real thriller with plenty of excitement on both ends. But who’s going to lift the trophy at the end? Let’s see what oddsmakers have to say.

The Europa League odds you see in the list above are from Betway Sportsbook. This betting site seems to be offering the best prices for the final, although other sportsbooks don’t differ too much. They all see Eintracht Frankfurt as the betting favorite.

The German team is the odds-on favorite to win the Europa League trophy, although odds do suggest that it might not happen after 90 minutes. Perhaps we will see the Europa League final going to the extra time for the ninth time in the 21^st century?

For Eintracht Frankfurt, the Europa League final is the game of the century. The German team has a chance to win the first continental title since 1980. If they do pull it off, they will salvage the season, which saw them finish in the #11 place in the German Bundesliga – their worst performance in five years.

Still, the reason behind their poor finish in the domestic league is that these guys have been living and breathing Europa League.

Even their manager Oliver Glasner seems fired up about the Europa League final, stating in a recent interview that his team is “all about this final.” That said, you can be certain that Eintracht players will be in a battle mode on Wednesday, ready to leave their hearts on the pitch. The bad news for them is that’s exactly what everyone expects from Rangers.

Two of Rangers’ top three strikers are struggling with injuries. One of them is Kemar Roofe, who missed his team’s previous seven matches, but who might make a comeback on Wednesday.

The other one is Alfredo Morelos – the man who, according to Transfermarkt, is worth 10% of the value of the entire squad – is definitely out with an injury.

However, the guy’s been injured for weeks, but his teammates were still able to do well in the offense. In fact, they only failed to find the net in two of the 15 games they played without Morelos on the roster.

One of those games was the second leg of the Europa League semifinal, which saw Rangers beat RB Leipzig 3-1 despite entering the game as 4.00 underdogs. Full back James Tavernier scored one of the goals in that game, further cementing his spot at the summit of the leaderboard in the Europa League top scorer race.

🌟 James Tavernier | Europa League top-scorer 🌟

The Rangers right-back has netted seven goals on their way to Seville.

The Light Blues captain leading by example in the biggest moments.#UELfinal | #UEL pic.twitter.com/Ug0sEgIp0B

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) May 17, 2022

What’s really interesting about Rangers’ win over RB Leipzig is that the Scots weren’t the dominant force on the pitch. In fact, it was just the opposite – the Germans had the ball in their possession for 61% of the time, making 11 goal attempts.

Meanwhile, Rangers created just six goal chances but 50% of them went in. I reckon we’ll see their coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst employ the same tactic on Wednesday. We will probably see Rangers on the back foot, looking for their chances from counterattacks.

In his 2022 Europa League prediction, my colleague Ben Morris predicts Rangers will be the ones to win the trophy. Although I’m not as confident as he is, I do think Rangers are a force to be reckoned with.

That said, I think that even if they don’t win, they’re not going to embarrass themselves on Wednesday. Actually, I am sure they will put on a good performance, possibly scoring a goal or two. Another thing I’m sure of is that Eintracht Frankfurt are going to fight back.

All of this explains why my betting pick for the Europa League final is that we’re going to see plenty of goals. Three goals in 90 minutes is a bare minimum in my opinion.