Good Morning ☀️,

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

With the FIFA CWC Round of 16 now done and dusted, I went looking for highlights.

That’s when I stumbled on this pic of Messi looking like he’s eager to help out five PSG fellas with their homework. 🤣

If you know, you know. 😉 If you don’t, try Googling “piper perri surrounded meme”. 👀

Anyway, jokes aside, here’s what’s up in this week’s edition of What Are the Odds?

• Full FIFA Club World Cup Quarterfinals odds and predictions coverage, along with a few choice selections from our Swedish friends in the Allsvenskan. 🦵⚽

• A quick question from our friends at Masters of Trivia to see if you’ve been doing your Lionel Messi homework. 🖊️📖

• A little Lionel Messi quote that reveals the secret to becoming an overnight success. 🌙🚀

Sharing is caring: Help grow the team and show your friends you care — send them this link https://whataretheodds.io/subscribe

This week’s top tips and score predictions, brought to you by CXSports — the leader in odds and score predictions.

⚽ Fluminense vs Al Hilal Riyadh
🏟 FIFA Club World Cup (Quarterfinals)
Friday 04 July; 21:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: Some great odds on a victory for either side, plus some reasonable-value odds on a safe double-chance play.

• CXSports says: With no prior head-to-head history between these two, this could be an interesting game full of unexpected twists and turns. But that doesn’t mean we can’t compare them. In this case, the most important stats to pay attention to are average goals scored/conceded per match. Fluminense, for its part, scores an average of 1.3 while conceding at an average of 0.7. This compares quite favorably with Al Hilal, who both scored and conceded at an average of 1.0 goals per game. With that said, this will likely be a very close game with no clear winner until very late in proceedings. In fact, if we had to predict exactly how it will play out, expect regular time to end in a draw, with Fluminense to nick it on penalties.

• Score prediction: 2-1 for Fluminense

Option #1

• Bet: Fluminense Victory

• Odds Range: 2.60-2.95

Option #2

• Bet: Double Chance

• Odds Range: 1.19-1.37

⚽ Palmeiras vs Chelsea
🏟 FIFA Club World Cup (Quarterfinals)
Saturday 05 July; 03:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: Chelsea has a good, solid edge here, which makes the ~2.00 odds on them coming out on top quite appealing.

• CXSports says: Palmeiras have had an absolutely rock-solid defensive performance in the competition so far, and boy has it paid dividends — to date, they’re unbeaten with a whopping 3 clean sheets in 4 games. On the other hand, Chelsea’s been on fire, too — particularly in their attack — which has seen them take 4 wins in 5 CLW matches, including a massive 4-1 dismantling of Benfica. This could cause complications for Palmeiras’ defense, as solid as it may have been until now. And, without an equally vigorous response in their attack (unlikely), Palmeiras could easily find themselves edged out by Chelsea.

• Score prediction: 1-2 for Chelsea

Option #1

• Bet: Chelsea Victory

• Odds Range: 1.85-2.10

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (Yes)

• Odds Range: 1.74-1.97

⚽ Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich
🏟 FIFA Club World Cup (Quarterfinals)
Saturday 05 July; 18:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: If you can stomach going against the consensus, there are some big odds on a high-probability Bayern victory here.

• CXSports says: PSG’s been looking vicious lately after steamrolling their way through the round of 16, their dominant 4-0 win over Inter Miami being a particular highlight. That seems to have set them up as favorites coming into this match according to the consensus. But here’s the thing — Bayern has a really solid squad — a squad which has proven difficult for PSG to handle in the past. In fact, over the course of their last 9 head-to-heads, Bayern has come out on top 7 times — the last time PSG managed this was way back in 2021. Making matters even worse, PSG hasn’t even scored a single goal against Bayern since that 2021 game, meaning they’re really going to have to pull one out of the bag if this game’s to end any differently.

• Score prediction: 1-2 for Bayern Munich

Option #1

• Bet: Bayern Munich Victory

• Odds Range: 2.60-3.20

Option #2

• Bet: Double Chance (PSG / Bayern)

• Odds Range: 1.17-1.31

⚽ Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund
🏟 FIFA Club World Cup (Quarterfinals)
Saturday 05 July; 22:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: 

• CXSports says: Unsurprisingly, Real Madrid has been impressive throughout this FIFA CWC competition, despite resting some key stars. For its part, Borussia Dortmund hasn’t been too shabby either, but, compared to their opponents in this game, they do have a tendency to come off as a little bit raw. And while they’ve more than made up for it up until this point with pure energy and a little risk taking, Real Madrid are arguably a class above — experienced, organized, and absolutely unforgiving of errors. That’s likely to cause some complications for the young Dortmund side, with the more-than-likely result being a convincing Real Madrid victory, albeit with a close scoreline.

• Score prediction: 2-1 for Real Madrid

Option #1

• Bet: Real Madrid Victory

• Odds Range: 1.46-1.63

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (Yes)

• Odds Range: 1.47-1.67

Want to get the best odds on these predictions?

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While it’s easy to laugh at Messi’s Inter Miami squad today, we probably shouldn’t forget that he’s still one of the greatest players to have ever stepped foot onto a soccer field.

To prove it, here’s a quick quiz from our friends at Masters of Trivia.

Question: How many Ballon d'Or awards has Messi won?

• A: Five

• B: Six

• C: Seven

• D: Eight

Think you know the answer?

Read to the end to see if you were right.

⚽ Hammarby IF vs IFK Varnamo
🏟 Swedish Allsvenskan
Saturday 05 July; 17:30 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: Hammarby’s chances of walking away with a victory here are, objectively, so high that it makes the odds on offer look absurd. Definitely worth jumping on this one.

• CXSports says: Here’s a fun fact — word on the street is that the Swedes like to say “Bajen är en klass för sig”. Translation — Hammarby are in a class of their own. Now, obviously that’s not 100% accurate — Hammarby has been defeated twice this season, and they’re pretty much tied up with a handful of teams at the top of the table. But, when it comes to playing against Varnamo (who’re dead last on the table and in an all-out crisis mode) it might as well be true. In fact, Varnamo hasn’t even won a single game this season. No prizes for guessing who comes out on top in this game.

• Score prediction: 3-1 for Hammarby

Option #1

• Bet: Hammarby Victory

• Odds Range: 1.22-1.37

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (Yes)

• Odds Range: 1.75-1.95

⚽ IFK Goteborg vs IK Sirius
🏟 Swedish Allsvenskan
Sunday 06 July; 14:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: There’s a nice safe draw-no-bet play here that’s still got a decent upside.

• CXSports says: Take any one data point for each of these teams, and the differences between the two aren’t exactly huge. What’s more, if you look at their past head-to-heads, the last two have ended in draws, with the remainder being a mixed bag. What does make the difference, however, is how consistently Goteborg comes out ahead in any comparison, whether that be points per game (1.17 vs 0.86), goals conceded (1.46 vs 1.69), current form (Goteborg’s #7 on the table, while Sirius is #11), or even overall head-to-head history (7 victories for Goteborg vs 4 for Sirius). Now add the home advantage into the mix, and you can’t help but get the feeling that Goteborg has something resembling an edge here, even if we can’t completely rule out the possibility of a draw.

• Score prediction: 2-1 for Goteborg

Option #1

• Bet: Draw No Bet (Goteborg)

• Odds Range: 1.18-1.30

Option #2

• Bet: Goteborg Victory

• Odds Range: 1.54-1.73

⚽ Halmstad vs AIK
🏟 Swedish Allsvenskan
Sunday 06 July; 14:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: There’s some juicy looking odds on an AIK victory given the huge probability of them coming out on top.

• CXSports says: AIK’s currently seated somewhat comfortably in the Allsvenskan top-3, with 29 points on the table and just one defeat all season. Halmstad, on the other hand, are currently mingling with the relegation contenders in the bottom three, with just 13 points on the table and 8 defeats for the season. That alone should paint a pretty clear picture of where this match is headed.

• Score prediction: 0-2 for AIK

Option #1

• Bet: AIK Victory

• Odds Range: 1.47-1.75

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (No)

• Odds Range: 1.55-1.74

⚽ Elfsborg vs Hacken
🏟 Swedish Allsvenskan
Sunday 06 July; 16:30 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: This might not be the most convincing of plays out there this week, but if you’ve got nothing better to do with your Sunday afternoon, this could be worth a look.

• CXSports says: Looking at the head-to-head history between these two, it’s hard to tell them apart (although Elfsborg does come out slightly in front). But taking a look at their more recent performances — particularly their last five games — we start to see a clearer picture emerge. For its part, Hacken has struggled lately, with just a single win in its last five games (2 draws and 2 losses make up the balance). Elfsbourg, on the other hand, has taken three victories, with a single loss and a single draw making up its balance. We also can’t ignore the home ground advantage here, which only adds to the case for Elfsborg. However, with that said, this could still be a very close game that could still go either way.

• Score prediction: 2-1 for Elfsoug

Option #1

• Bet: Double Chance (Elfsborg / Hacken)

• Odds Range: 1.16-1.25

Option #2

• Bet: Elfsoug Victory

• Odds Range: 1.63-1.86

Make your sportsbook work for you!

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Your weekly dose of inspiration, brought to you by Masters of Trivia.

When he first burst onto the scene, Lionel Messi was hailed as an overnight success.

Wanna know his secret?

Moral of the story?

While some people might look like they achieved success overnight, what we usually don’t see are the years of hard work that happened before anyone paid attention to them.

Want to learn more about Lionel Messi?

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 Lionel Messi Trivia Quiz today.

PS: The answer to this week’s question was [D] — Messi’s won 8 Ballon d’Or awards over the course of his career. Discover more trivia like this with the Lionel Messi Trivia Quiz.