Good Morning ☀️,

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

With the English EFL Championship set to kick off its 2025-26 season next week, I went looking for news.

That’s when I discovered Watford FC’s TikTok account.

Shout out to whoever wrote this brutal bio.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be dropping more EFL and EPL goodness. But, until then, here’s what we’ve got for you in this week’s edition of What Are the Odds?

• Full odds and predictions coverage for every game in today’s Europa League Qualification games. ⚽📊

• A quick look at one of this season’s English Premier League promotees — Leeds United. 🏟️🆙

• A great quote by Leeds coach Daniel Farke (great name!) about the importance of believing in the unbelievable. 🧠✨

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

⚽ AEK Larnaca vs NK Celje
🏟 Europa League Qualification (Round 2)
Thursday 31 July; 18:30 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: Great value odds on a high-probability Larnaca victory that are definitely worth a look.

• CXSports says: Larnaca and Celje are coming into the final leg of this round all tied up at 1-1 after a deadlocked first round. This time, however, Larnaca will be on home turf, which should give them a decent edge over Celje. As for how that will actually play out, expect this to be a reasonably low-scoring affair — Celje has been consistently solid in defense in their recent games, including a recent 2-0 clean sheet on the domestic circuit, although we don’t expect a perfect performance here, opening up a chance for Larnaca to slip one through and edge out the victory.

• Score prediction: 1-0 for AEK Larnaca

Option #1

• Bet: AEK Larnaca Victory

• Odds Range: 1.67-1.88

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (No)

• Odds Range: 1.60-1.80

⚽ Hacken vs Anderlecht
🏟 Europa League Qualification (Round 2)
Thursday 31 July; 19:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: While it’s far from a sure thing, the high probability of this ending in a draw makes the current odds available very attractive.

• CXSports says: In the opening leg of this fixture, Anderlecht edged out Hacken in a 1-0 defeat. This time around, the consensus is pointing to a similar result. However, we’re not so sure here, and it’s not just the obvious — Hacken’s home advantage — that has us doubtful here. In the opening leg, Hacken was looking dangerous on more than one occasion as they went about creating several strong openings. Now, clearly, none of those converted, but that doesn’t mean the same thing can’t happen this time around. As such, we’re giving this one a high probability of ending in a draw.

• Score prediction: 1-1 draw

Option #1

• Bet: Draw

• Odds Range: 3.20-3.73

Option #2

• Bet: Draw no Bet (Anderlecht)

• Odds Range: 1.45-1.54

⚽ CFR Cluj vs Lugano
🏟 Europa League Qualification (Round 2)
Thursday 31 July; 19:30 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: There’s a nice safe double chance play here, along with some very decent odds if you’re willing to go out on a limb and back a likely Cluj victory.

• CXSports says: If you need a hint that this is going to be a close game, you don’t need to look any further than last week’s opening leg, which ended in a goalless draw. What could upset the balance, however, is if Cluj manages to get a better handle on possession this time around. In the opening leg, Lugano hogged the ball but failed to create any chances, whereas Cluj managed a few more dangerous shots with their limited possession. If they can do more of that this time around, then eventually one’s going to stick. As such, we’re giving Cluj a slight edge… but only just.

• Score prediction: 1-0 for Cluj

Option #1

• Bet: CFR Cluj Victory

• Odds Range: 2.08-2.35

Option #2

• Bet: Double Chance (Cluj / Lugano)

• Odds Range: 1.11-1.36

⚽ Shakhtar Donetsk vs Besiktas
🏟 Europa League Qualification (Round 2)
Thursday 31 July; 20:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: Huge odds on a very likely Shakhtar Donetsk victory make this game one of the must-watch fixtures of this round.

• CXSports says: The first leg of this round saw a massive 6 goals scored with Shakhtar walking away with a comfortable 4-2 victory once the dust settled. With that comfortable lead in the aggregate, chances are we’ll see a slightly more subdued Shakhtar who’ll be looking to defend rather than extend their lead. That could see this game ending with far fewer goals scored, particularly from Besiktas, if Shakhtar tighten up the screws in defense. With that said, don’t expect a complete absence of action — Donetsk will likely still want to put on a show for their home crowd, and will likely manage to walk away with the victory in doing so.

• Score prediction: 1-0 for Shakhtar Donetsk

Option #1

• Bet: Shakhtar Donetsk Victory

• Odds Range: 1.76-2.08

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (No)

• Odds Range: 2.23-2.75

Want to get the best odds on these predictions?

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With just a couple of weeks to wait until the Premier League kicks off for another season (August 15), we thought it was time to start looking ahead.

This week, we want to look at one of the freshly-promoted teams — Leeds United.

Here’s an easy trivia question for all you fans out there (and a tricky one for the rest of you).

Question: In what year was Leeds United founded?

• A: 1904

• B: 1919

• C: 1925

• D: 1932

Think you know the answer?

Read to the end to see if you were right.

⚽ Utrecht vs FC Sheriff Tiraspol
🏟 Europa League Qualification (Round 2)
Thursday 31 July; 20:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: Great value odds on what’s almost certainly going to be a solid Utrecht victory.

• CXSports says: Playing on the road in the first leg, Utrecht took a comfortable 1-3 victory over Sheriff. That apparent ease with which they won, combined with their home advantage this time around, will likely have Utrecht coming into this game full of confidence. Sheriff, on the other hand, will be starting this one off on the back foot with a massive 2-goal deficit to overcome. This could see the visitors playing some rash, unpredictable football that, while potentially dangerous at times, will ultimately do them more harm than good. In short, expect another easy victory for Utrecht.

• Score prediction: 2-1 for Utrecht

Option #1

• Bet: Utrecht Victory

• Odds Range: 1.16-1.38

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (Yes)

• Odds Range: 1.75-2.06

⚽ Braga vs Levski
Europa League Qualification (Round 2)
Thursday 31 July; 21:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: While this is far from our top pick for a must-watch game, the odds on a Braga victory are solid, as are Braga’s chances.

• CXSports says: The opening leg of this game ended in a frustrating 0-0 stalemate where the pace was dictated by tight midfield battles and constant fouls that upset the rhythm. Ultimately, this resulted in neither side creating a clear-cut scoring opportunity. This time around, however, we expect Braga to pull ahead. Historically, they’ve been much stronger at converting possession into chances, particularly when you throw in the extra motivation of a home crowd into that equation.

• Score prediction: 1-0 or Braga

Option #1

• Bet: Braga Victory

• Odds Range: 1.12-1.25

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (No)

• Odds Range: 1.44-1.70

⚽ Hibernian vs FC Midtjylland
🏟 Europa League Qualification (Round 2)
Thursday 31 July; 21:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: There’s some decent value on the double chance odds here which make this a definite must watch this week.

• CXSports says: The first leg of this fixture looked like it was going to be a game full of fireworks after Jamie McGrath, making his debut for Hibernian, scored within the first ten minutes. But, after that opening, the game settled down until Midtjylland equalized late in the second half, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. This time around, however, McGrath might not get so lucky, and if Midtjylland manage to lock down the game and take the occasional calculated risk like they did in the first leg, this game could easily end in their favor. That, of course, is a big if — Midtjylland’s edge is only slight, and this game could go either way in reality.

• Score prediction: 1-2 or 2-1 for either side

Option #1

• Bet: Double Chance (Hibernian / FC Midtjylland)

• Odds Range: 1.15-1.28

Option #2

• Bet: Midtjylland Victory

• Odds Range: 1.75-2.00

⚽ Legia vs Banik Ostrava
🏟 Europa League Qualification (Round 2)
Thursday 31 July; 21:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: 

• CXSports says: The first leg of this matchup certainly delivered plenty of fireworks. However, once all was said and done, the result was a 2-2 stalemate. Sadly for Banik, things could have been very different — at one point, they held a 2-goal lead, which Legia slowly whittled away. This time around, things might not be much different. While Legia technically has the home advantage here, Banik has a proven ability to score on the road. Add to this the fact that Legia tends to concede at home (only 40% clean sheets). This suggests a game that could be wide open right down to the wire, although we still expect Legia to edge ahead in the final minutes.

• Score prediction: 2-1 for Legia

Option #1

• Bet: Legia Victory

• Odds Range: 1.45-1.66

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (Yes)

• Odds Range: 1.73-1.91

Make your sportsbook work for you!

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

With Leeds United back in the EPL, one has to wonder — what’s going on in their coach’s mind right now?

Here’s something he’s said in the past that might give us a hint.

Moral of the story?

Many people say they’re willing to take a moonshot. But simply saying it isn’t enough. Ultimately, deep down, you’ve also got to believe in it.

If not, that’s when self-sabotaging doubt sets in.

Want to learn more about Daniel Farke and Leeds United?

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 Leeds United Trivia Quiz today.

PS: The answer to this week’s question was [b] — Leeds United was founded over 100 years ago, all the way back in 1919. Discover more trivia like this with the Leeds United Trivia Quiz.