Good Morning ☀️,

It’s Lucas here, your Chief Predictions Officer at What Are the Odds?

This week, Nigeria was knocked out of the running for the World Cup. Their excuse — DR Congo players were apparently using voodoo during penalties. That’s according to Nigeria’s head coach, Eric Chelle.

And speaking of voodoo, that reminds me…

And here’s what’s ahead in this week’s edition of What Are the Odds?

• All the best English Premier League odds and score predictions for this weekend. 🦵⚽

• Why Turkey banned 102 players (plus a little trivia to boot). 🏟️✨

• . 🔥

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⚽ Burnley vs Chelsea
🏟️ English Premier League
Saturday 22 Nov; 13:30 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: Let’s be serious here — Burnley’s got next to no chance here. That makes this one a no-brainer.

• CXSports says: There’s a good chance Chelsea is going to take this one with relative ease. For starters, Burnley is defensively vulnerable right now (conceding around two goals a game), while Chelsea is managing to average around 1.9 goals scored per game while keeping their goals conceded tally down to roughly one per game. And don’t expect Burnley to make up for its poor defense with a strong attack either — they’re only averaging 1.27 goals scored per game. And if that wasn’t enough, let’s not forget the fact that, in their last 18 head-to-heads, Burnley has only beaten Chelsea in one of those games. Long story short, Chelsea takes this with ease.

• Score prediction: 3-1 for Chelsea

Option #1

• Bet: Chelsea Victory

• Odds Range: 1.38-1.54

Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 2.5)

• Odds Range: 1.64-1.86

⚽ Bournemouth vs West Ham
🏟️ English Premier League
Saturday 22 Nov; 16:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: Bournemouth’s tight defense at home and overall superior stats make this a nice, solid play.

• CXSports says: Bournemouth comes into this with a clear upper hand. Overall, they’re currently averaging 1.55 goals scored against 1.64 conceded per game, which might not sound all that great at first, until you realize West Ham’s only scoring at a rate of 1.18 goals per game while conceding 2.09 goals per game on average. What’s more, Bournemouth’s defense generally tightens while playing at home (their goals conceded drop by 0.4 goals per game). As such, expect Bournemouth to take a relatively sound victory here, even if West Ham will likely manage to cause the odd complication along the way.

• Score prediction: 2-1 for Bournemouth

Option #1

• Bet: Bournemouth Victory

• Odds Range: 1.50-1.68

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (Yes)

• Odds Range: 1.53-1.74

⚽ Brighton vs Brentford
🏟️ English Premier League
Saturday 22 Nov; 16:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: When the home team’s gone undefeated when playing on their home turf this season, logic says you should at least take a look.

• CXSports says: Brighton’s home form in the EPL right now is quite decent — they’re undefeated so far with 3W, 2D, and 0L. What’s more, their overall scoring and defensive numbers (1.55 goals scored and 1.36 goals conceded on average) are marginally better than Brentford’s overall performance (1.55 goals scored and conceded), and miles ahead of Brentford’s away performance (about 1 goal scored when away. As such, we should probably expect to see Brighton take advantage of Brentford’s defensive vulnerabilities while managing to keep conceded goals to a minimum — perhaps they might even pull off a clean sheet (although that might be a bit of a stretch).

• Score prediction: 1-2 for Brighton

Option #1

• Bet: Brighton Victory

• Odds Range: 1.79-1.89

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (Yes)

• Odds Range: 1.43-1.65

⚽ Fulham vs Sunderland
🏟️ English Premier League
Saturday 22 Nov; 16:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: Sunderland’s recent 2-draw streak seems to have people underestimating them coming into this. That’s left us with some really nice odds.

• CXSports says: Sunderland has been having a great season so far and will be coming into this match on a massively superior statistical footing than Fulham. With 5W, 4D, and just 2L in 11 matches compared to Fulham’s 3W, 2D, and 6L, the momentum clearly leans their way. With that said, Fulham has performed much better at home this season than they have on the road, so don’t expect Sunderland to walk in and dominate this match outright. While they’ll likely control large phases of the game and look to exploit Fulham’s lackluster defense, Fulham won’t go down without a fight. Probably not a close one, but it won’t be completely one-sided.

• Score prediction: 1-2 for Sunderland

Option #1

• Bet: Sunderland Victory

• Odds Range: 1.90-2.18

Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 1.5)

• Odds Range: 1.23-1.38

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Since our last edition, 102 Turkish football players have found themselves without a job. Why? A massive betting scandal. That’s why.

Late last month, an audit revealed that 371 of Turkey's 571 referees in professional leagues were gambling on football matches when they weren’t meant to. And since then, about 1000 or so players have come under investigation, too, 100+ of which have since been banned.

But that’s not all that was happening in Turkey at the time. Fortunately, the other event was much more positive.

Let’s see if you can figure out what it was with a quick quiz from our friends at Masters of Trivia.

Question: What is the significance of 29 October in Turkey?

• A: Republic Day

• B: National Sovereignty Day

• C: Victory Day

• D: Labor Day

Think you know the answer?

Read to the end to see if you were right.

⚽ Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest
🏟️ English Premier League
Saturday 22 Nov; 16:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: Liverpool might be having a rough patch, but Forest’s got it way, way worse. That virtually guarantees Liverpool a victory here.

• CXSports says: It’s hard to know what to make of Liverpool right now. After a dominant 2024-25 season and a killer start to this one, their recent spate of losses has come as a bit of a surprise. But, if Liverpool’s downfall looked bad, it’s nothing compared with Nottingham Forest’s, who finished last season as a decent upper mid-table club and have since collapsed into being a serious contender for the relegation slots this season. And that should more or less tell us what’s likely to happen in this game. As for scores, Forest’s defense is borderline shocking at the moment (20 conceded in 11 games) while Liverpool’s attack remains reasonably solid, so expect the home side to net a few.

• Score prediction: 3-1 for Liverpool

Option #1

• Bet: Liverpool Victory

• Odds Range: 1.31-1.46

Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 2.5)

• Odds Range: 1.43-1.59

⚽ Wolves vs Crystal Palace
🏟️ English Premier League
Saturday 22 Nov; 16:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: We honestly can’t believe the odds market’s pricing in the possibility of anything but a total loss by the Wolves. Great value on Palace here.

• CXSports says: Speaking of disastrous seasons (see Liverpool/Forest above), you couldn’t imagine a more disastrous season than what the Wolves have had so far. Zero victories, 9 losses, and just 2 draws in 11 games, and a -18 (yes, minus eighteen) goal difference, which implies they’re finishing games with an average losing margin approaching 2 goals. That’s massive — massively bad. So bad, it makes Crystal Palace’s otherwise modest stats (4W, 5D, 2L with a +5 goal difference) look like something from another dimension. Long story short — Palace takes this with ease.

• Score prediction: 0-2 for Crystal Palace

Option #1

• Bet: Crystal Palace Victory

• Odds Range: 1.86-2.08

Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 1.5)

• Odds Range: 1.20-1.34

⚽ Newcastle vs Man City
🏟️ English Premier League
Saturday 22 Nov; 18:30 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: If you’re willing to trust the stats on this one, Man City’s advantage far outweighs the odds available on the market right now.

• CXSports says: Right now, Man City’s churning out goals like they’re going out of fashion (averaging 2.09 per match) while completely shutting most of their opponents out from the party (0.73 conceded per match). And Newcastle will probably be one of those locked out, with a modest 1 goal per game scoring average and negative goal difference (1.27 conceded per match). Now, sure, Newcastle does have the home advantage here, so they might manage to put up something resembling a fight here. But the difference in baseline quality is so stark here that the advantage won’t count for much in the end.

• Score prediction: 1-3 for Man City

Option #1

• Bet: Man City Victory

• Odds Range: 1.85-2.07

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (Yes)

• Odds Range: 1.47-1.62

⚽ Arsenal vs Tottenham
🏟️ English Premier League
Sunday 23 Nov; 17:30 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: Arsenal’s been so dominant all season, we’d be crazy not to follow their every move.

• CXSports says: Arsenal has only lost a single game this season, and that was an away game against Liverpool back in August (before Liverpool started to suck). Since then, they’ve been undefeated and shown very little sign of that changing any time soon. And they’ve done all this while posting some impressive stats, particularly in defense, where they’ve conceded just 5 goals for the entire season. Contrast this with Tottenham’s 10 conceded for a similar goals scored total, and the one-sided nature of this clash becomes clear — Arsenal will take this one.

• Score prediction: 2-1 for Arsenal

Option #1

• Bet: Arsenal Victory

• Odds Range: 1.26-1.41

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (Yes)

• Odds Range: 1.79-2.05

Make your sportsbook work for you!

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Yesterday, French football legend, Laurent Blanc, celebrated a big milestone — his 60th birthday.

And, in case you’ve never heard of him, here’s a fun fact —he scored the first “golden goal” in World Cup history way back in 1998. So you’d think he’d know a thing or two about tie-breaker methods.

So, what’s he saying?

In a complex game like football, reducing an entire match to a crude penalty shootout feels harsh. Almost like it punishes the better team. But, if you want to be pragmatic, it’s probably the best thing we’ve got.

And the same logic applies to life, too — often, you’ll never find a perfect solution to a problem.

Takeaway — sometimes, you just need to let go of any idea of finding perfection.

Want to learn more about Laurent Blanc?

Masters of Trivia is the only trivia app where every player is rewarded. Play all the trivia quizzes you can handle and earn real rewards simply for participating.

Take Masters of Trivia for a spin with the Laurent Blanc Trivia Quiz today.

PS: The answer to this week’s question was [A] — Turkey celebrates “Republic Day” on October 29. Discover more trivia like this with the Republic of Turkey Quiz.