Good Morning ☀️,

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

So, Maduro got hauled to New York, and now Trump’s running Venezuela.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t notice what’s happening at Man United 😂

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

• The best English FA Cup plays for this weekend. 🦵⚽

• A little Man United trivia in case you missed it. 🏟️🪓

• A Ruben Amorim quote with a deeper lesson. 🔥🤝

PS: This week’s odds are a little different to our usual program. With the English FA Cup taking place this weekend, we hand-picked only the most heavily one-sided games. So if you’re looking for our usual “why we’re watching this” takeaway, there you have it — heavily one-sided games.

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⚽ Macclesfield Town vs Crystal Palace
🏟️ English FA Cup
Saturday 10 January; 13:15 (Europe/Paris)

• CXSports says: Let’s start with the name everyone knows already — Crystal Palace. They’re a mid-table Premier League side suffering a seven-match winless stretch, scoring about 1.5 goals per game and leaking roughly 1.33. That’s enough to look fragile on the surface — defensive lapses, poor finishing. And, if this were a normal 50/50, that would be a fair, objective reading. But let’s face it, Macclesfield isn’t even in the same league, even if they are managing to put up 2 goals per match in recent fixtures. But the reality is, they’re from the sixth tier — a full 100+ places below Palace in the broader league pyramid, and that likely means they’re going to struggle big time here.

• Score prediction: 1-3 for Crystal Palace

Option #1

• Bet: Crystal Palace Victory

• Odds Range: 1.11-1.26

Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 2.5)

• Odds Range: 1.26-1.47

⚽ Wolves vs Shrewsbury Town
🏟️ English FA Cup
Saturday 10 January; 13:15 (Europe/Paris)

• CXSports says: Wolves. What a disaster, right? So many losses that their only positive results basically count for nothing. Less than a goal scored per game. Approximately 2 conceded on average. What hope do they have? Fortunately (for the Wolves), Shrewsbury Town’s also in a similar position — they’re trailing in their league, they’re only scoring 0.88, and, notably, conceding 1.7 per game. What makes their situation even worse is that their league just so happens to be League Two — not even close to the level of competition in the EPL. In short, if the Wolves can deliver a similar performance in terms of stats while competing at a much higher level, then they should have no problem handling their opponents in this game.

• Score prediction: 2-1 for Wolves

Option #1

• Bet: Wolves Victory

• Odds Range: 1.13-1.26

Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 2.5)

• Odds Range: 1.27-1.46

⚽ Ipswich vs Blackpool
🏟️ English FA Cup
Saturday 10 January; 16:00 (Europe/Paris)

• CXSports says: The numbers alone here are telling. Ipswich scores 1.68 goals per game and concedes less than 1 (0.96). Blackpool, on the other hand, scores 1.24 and concedes 1.48. That alone — the fact that Ipswich score more and leak less — tells a pretty telling tale. But that balance gets even more skewed once we consider each side's respective league profile. Here, Ipswich is #3 in the Championship, while Blackpool is 18th in Football League One. Tl;dr — Ipswich is the clear favorite here, no question about it.

• Score prediction: 3-1 for Ipswich

Option #1

• Bet: Ipswich Victory

• Odds Range: 1.14-1.33

Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 2.5)

• Odds Range: 1.31-1.57

⚽ Manchester City vs Exeter
🏟️ English FA Cup
Saturday 10 January; 16:00 (Europe/Paris)

• CXSports says: The favorite here should be pretty clear — no stats needed. But, for the sake of being thorough, here are the highlights. Manchester City scores at least twice per match on average (against Premier League defences that aren’t Liverpool), while Exeter is barely even making the one-goal barrier in League One. And as for concessions, both teams are conceding at roughly equal rates. In short, you’ve got a top-tier club with better numbers taking on a third-tier club with worse numbers. Who do you think’s going to win?

• Score prediction: 4-0 for Manchester City

Option #1

• Bet: Manchester City Victory

• Odds Range: 1.01-1.08

Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 2.5)

• Odds Range: 1.05-1.18

Want to get the best odds on these predictions?

In case you were a little confused about the intro, you might have missed the latest on Man United.

tl;dr: After a lackluster season with no sign of improvement in sight, Rúben Amorim lost his job.

So now you all know when he got fired, let’s see if you can remember when he first got hired with a quick quiz from our friends at Masters of Trivia.

Question: When did Rúben Amorim officially start his role at Manchester United?

• A: 1 July 2024

• B: 15 October 2024

• C: 11 November 2024

• D: 1 January 2025

Think you know the answer?

Read to the end to see if you were right.

⚽ Sheffield Wednesday vs Brentford
🏟️ English FA Cup
Saturday 10 January; 16:00 (Europe/Paris)

• CXSports says: Sheffield Wednesday’s in freefall. They’re dead last in the Championship, scoring less than a goal per game, and conceding at just over 2 goals per game. Oh, and fun fact — they’re currently on -7 points after two back-to-back 6-point penalties for ‘administration problems’ (they’re going bankrupt). That’s presumably weighing heavily on the psychology of the team. By contrast, Brentford’s doing fine in the top flight. They’re comfortably seated in mid-tabe, have reasonably balanced stats, and save for a major disaster, will have no problem coming out on top in this game.

• Score prediction: 1-3 for Brentford

Option #1

• Bet: Brentford Victory

• Odds Range: 1.14-1.29

Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 2.5)

• Odds Range: 1.30-1.54

⚽ Grimsby Town vs Weston Super Mare
🏟️ English FA Cup
Saturday 10 January; 18:45 (Europe/Paris)

• CXSports says: Does anyone know any tier-6 clubs in the English football system? No? Well, now you do — Weston Super Mare. And, in their league, they’re not too shabby. But let’s be honest here — even if Grimsby’s little more than an unremarkable mid-table contender in the ‘lowly’ League Two, they’re still miles ahead of Weston. Now, sure, Weston has had a pretty good Cup run (two straight victories). But those results were against similarly-ranked squads. Coming up against a League Two squad with decent overall numbers (like Grimsby) is likely going to be a bit of a stretch. Particularly on the road. This one goes to the home squad.

• Score prediction: 3-1 for Grimsby Town

Option #1

• Bet: Grimsby Town Victory

• Odds Range: 1.10-1.25

Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 2.5)

• Odds Range: 1.22-1.44

⚽ Charlton Athletic vs Chelsea
🏟️ English FA Cup
Saturday 10 January; 21:00 (Europe/Paris)

• CXSports says: Charlton’s struggling in the championship. They’re 19th, conceding more than they’re scoring (1 goal per game scored, 1.28 conceded), and their overall results have been more negative than positive (7W, 8D, 10L). Chelsea, by contrast, is performing reasonably well in the top flight, even if recent results (a string of draws and a loss) and a little off-field drama (managerial churn) do leave something to be desired. That illustrates enough of a performance gap to call this one a very likely victory for Chelsea.

• Score prediction: 0-2 for Chelsea

Option #1

• Bet: Chelsea Victory

• Odds Range: 1.22-1.44

Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 1.5)

• Odds Range: 1.06-1.20

⚽ Portsmouth vs Arsenal
🏟️ English FA Cup
Sunday 11 January; 15:00 (Europe/Paris)

• CXSports says: Arsenal’s at the top of the top-flight with an almost perfect run, great attacking stats (2 goals per game) and, frankly, a superhuman defense (0.7 conceded per game). Stick them up against just about anyone, and they’re the favorite. Stick them up against a struggling squad from the 2nd-tied Championship, and suddenly we’re talking less about “favorites”, and more about “destiny”. Yep, Arsenal’s destined to win this one — it’s basically pre-determined.

• Score prediction: 0-3 for Arsenal

Option #1

• Bet: Arsenal Victory

• Odds Range: 1.12-1.26

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (No)

• Odds Range: 1.52-1.76

Make your sportsbook work for you!

Let’s be honest here. Ruben Amorim’s probably just the fall guy for bigger problems at Man United. After all, he did hint at deeper problems way back when.

So what was he pointing at here?

Probably “differences of opinion” between him and the board. The board wanted one thing. Ruben wanted another.

Naturally, that didn’t work out, and Ruben had to act as the fall guy.

So what’s the moral of the story here?

Simple — it’s the old lesson about teamwork and the importance of everyone pulling in the same direction.

Want to learn more about Ruben Amorim and Manchester 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 Manchester United Trivia Quiz today.

PS: The answer to this week’s question was [C] — Ruben got his job with Man United on 11 November 2024. Discover more trivia like this with the Manchester United Trivia Quiz.