After the success of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League last season it is no surprise that Aston Villa are among the early favourites for the crown this time round.
Spurs and United battled it out for the Europa League trophy just months ago as the two English teams dominated the second tier European competition last season.
Such is the strength of the Premier League and the teams in it, Aston Villa are already thought to be one of the front-runners this time as seen with Irish bookmakers Bet365 and Ladbrokes who both have them at 6/1 to copy Spurs and take home the trophy.
BetVictor, meanwhile. have Villa at 5/1.
It is easy to see why as well as Villa have kept much of their squad together from last season, a campaign in which they made it through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
They only lost to eventual winners PSG after beating them 3-1 at Villa Park – however you look at it the Villa took on the best of Europe and won last year – and this year they are not taking on the best.
That is seen by the fact that the second favourites for the trophy, in the eyes of the Irish bookmakers at least, are Roma, who are 9/1 at Bet365, Ladbrokes and BetVictor right now.
Real Betis are next up as they are 10/1 at Bet365 and BetVictor while Ladbrokes have them at 9/1.
Then come FC Porto who are 10/1 at Bet365 and 11/1 at Ladbrokes and 9/1 at BetVictor, but it is another English team who are also capturing the bookies eyes after that.
Nottingham Forest took the Premier League by storm last year as their counter attacking football had them in the Champions League places for much of the campaign.
They lost Anthony Elanga to Newcastle since then, as well as Nuno Espirito Santo as manager, but the bookmakers still have them at 11/1 Bet365, and 9/1 at Ladbrokes to win their first European title this century.
The double European Cup winners in the 1970s and 1980s have a long and proud history in Europe and after naming Ange Postecoglou as their new boss that could yet continue.
Ange led Spurs to Europa league success just last year and now after being named as the new Forest boss he has a chance to taste success in this competition for a second year in a row.
His former team, Celtic, probably will not be among those trying to stop Ange and Forest this year as the bookmakers have them at 25/1 Bet365, and 33/1 Ladbrokes to take home some European silverware this season.
BetVictor have fellow Scottish side Rangers even further out than that as they are currently 66/1 to repeat the success they had in 2008 when they made the final.
With very little European pedigree outside of the top sides you can see why the Villa are so highly regarded in this competition this year and after not winning a trophy since 1996 they will be looking to put that run to bed.
With the likes of Braga and Salzburg and Fenerbache standing in their way it will surprise nobody if they make the final four at least in a competition that does guarantee Champions League football if you do go on to win it.