Europa League draw 2025/26: Date, teams, pots and how to follow as Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest learn fate

As Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa prepare for the upcoming 2025/26 Europa League, their strong league finishes present favorable betting opportunities for punters. Expect odds to reflect their potential to progress deep into the tournament, especially following Aston Villa's impressive Champions League run last season.

The league phase draw for the 2025/26 Europa League is fast approaching, with Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa learning their fate.

Last year’s edition saw Tottenham crowned champions after a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in an all-English final, bringing to an end their 17-year wait for major silverware.

Tottenham won a first European trophy since 1984 with Europa League gloryCredit: Getty

Tottenham won a first European trophy since 1984 with Europa League glory. As a result, Spurs secured automatic qualification for the Champions League, but there is still a chance for another English winner this year.

Both Forest and Villa are already in the hat for the league phase, with the latter qualifying via a sixth-place Premier League finish last term.

Meanwhile, the east Midlands outfit earned a promotion into Europe’s second-tier competition, as they were bumped up from their initial place in the Conference League.

But after FA Cup winners Crystal Palace were relegated from the Europa League to the Conference League for a breach of UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules, Forest took their spot instead.

With two English sides vying for glory this year, here are all the details about the Europa League 2025/26 league phase draw.

Europa League draw: Date and how to follow

The 2025/26 Europa League draw will be held on Friday, August 29. It will take place on the same day as the Conference League draw, with the two being combined into one single show.

This will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Proceedings will get underway at 12pm UK time. The Europa League draw will go first, followed by the Conference League’s.

Nottingham Forest will play in Europe for the first time since the 1995/96 seasonCredit: Getty

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM. It will also be available to watch live for FREE on UEFA.com. You can find out more HERE.

Europa League draw: Format

The league phase draw will follow the same procedure as last year, when a new format was introduced. Each of the 36 participating teams will be split into four pots based on their club’s European coefficient ranking.

All teams will be manually drawn using physical balls, before automated software decides eight opponents for them. Every side will be pitted against two clubs from each pot, one of those being played at home and the other away.

Teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other and can only play two sides from the same country during the league phase. The draw will start with Pot 1, with teams assigned opponents one-by-one and continuing into all other pots until every team discovers their fate.

This 2025/26 campaign will be the second year of the new Europa League format.

Aston Villa will play in this season's Europa League, after reaching the Champions League quarter-finals last termCredit: Getty

Europa League draw: Teams and pots

Thirteen teams qualify directly for the Europa League league phase, with a further 12 sides securing their places through qualifying, culminating in a play-off round.

The play-off round will take place this week and next – starting on Thursday, August 21, before the second legs across August 27 and 28.

The 36-team line-up is completed by 11 losing teams transferring from the Champions League third qualifying round and play-offs.

As things stand, these are the sides who have already booked their place in the league phase of the Europa League.

Pot 1: Roma, Porto, Feyenoord, Lille, Dinamo Zagreb, Real Betis Pot 2: Lyon, Viktoria Plzen Pot 3: Nice Pot TBD: Red Bull Salzburg, Aston Villa, Freiburg, Nottingham Forest, Bologna, Celta Vigo, VfB Stuttgart, Go Ahead Eagles

Europa League draw: Fixture dates

The first games of the Europa League league phase will take place on September 24th and 25th. Kick-off times are yet to be confirmed.

Matchday 1: September 24-25, 2025
Matchday 2: October 2, 2025
Matchday 3: October 23, 2025
Matchday 4: November 6, 2025
Matchday 5: November 27, 2025
Matchday 6: December 11, 2025
Matchday 7: January 22, 2026
Matchday 8: January 29, 2026

The league phase draw for the 2025/26 Europa League is fast approaching, with Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa learning their fate.Last year's editio

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