Good Morning ☀️,

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

This week, Alex Murphy officially became the Premier League’s leading bench warmer (1 minute of action in 20 games), Real Madrid accidentally became better without their stars (Mbappé and Bellingham out), and Arsenal did was Arsenal does best (faceplant during a big moment).

Meanwhile in “what’s up with Ronaldinho this week” news, storms have delayed the opening of his “European-inspired” stadium, while the BBC decided to rank him as one of the greatest ‘showboaters’ of all time.

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

• The best odds and predictions for this weekend. 🦵⚽

• A little Ronaldinho trivia from our friends at Masters of Trivia. 🏟️✨

• A little quote about making the most of what you’ve got. 🔥💪

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⚽ Russia vs Nicaragua
🏟️ International Friendly
📅 Friday 27 March; 17:30 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: Russia’s chances here are so good that it’s probably better off replacing the word “chance” with “destiny”.

• CXSports says: Russia’s the sort of team that’s used to dictating terms at this level, and their numbers show it. They score roughly 2.7-3.1 goals per game while conceding just ~0.5, and they’re usually the ones to open the scoring (9/10 matches). Nicaragua, by contrast, has the polar opposite profile — they concede 1.5-2.2 goals per game, fail to score in around half their matches, and only manage around 0.75 points per game when away. In short, there’s nothing about this fixture that even remotely resembles competitive. One side starts fast, plays hard, and keeps control. The other struggles to do anything once behind. Expect Russia to take this one with ease.

• Score prediction: 3-0 for Russia

Option #1

• Bet: Russia Victory

• Odds Range: 1.02-1.04

Option #2

• Bet: Over/Under (Over 2.5)

• Odds Range: 1.21-1.26

▶▶Full Match Details: [Read More]

⚽ Spain vs Serbia
🏟️ International Friendly
📅 Friday 27 March; 21:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: The double chance play here looks especially sound given Serbia’s never won a single game in this fixture.

• CXSports says: In most respects, Spain is the clearly superior team here. They average just shy of 2.5 goals per game at this level, dominate possession (66% in this matchup), and, most importantly, have held Serbia to 0.2 goals per game across recent meetings (yep, Serbia’s only scored a single goal in their last 5 head-to-heads with Spain). But here’s where things get interesting. While Serbia struggles to score against Spain, they’ve also managed, on the odd occasion, to keep the Spaniards at bay — in the last 5 head-to-heads, Serbia’s managed 3 draws (0-0, 1-1, 0-0). With that said, when Spain’s playing at home, they tend to beat the Serbians handsomely (3-0, 2-0 in their last two home games), so we expect to see a similar result this time around, even if the threat of a draw can’t be ruled out entirely.

• Score prediction: 2-0 for Spain

Option #1

• Bet: Double Chance (Spain / Draw)

• Odds Range: 1.01-1.07

Option #2

• Bet: Spain Victory

• Odds Range: 1.15-1.30

▶▶Full Match Details: [Read More]

⚽ Argentina vs Mauritania
🏟️ International Friendly
📅 Saturday 28 March; 00:15 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: When a squad ranked 115th in the FIFA rankings takes on the world #2, there’s only one realistic outcome.

• CXSports says: This is the sort of prediction that’s barely even worth saying anything about. What do we mean? Everyone knows Argentina’s one of the great footballing nations. But ask anyone about Mauritania, and chances are, they didn’t even know they played football. And there’s a reason for that — they’re #115 in the FIFA rankings, consistently concede more than 2 goals per game (without scoring much in response), and have the sort of results you’d expect given that profile (their last five results are DDLLL).

• Score prediction: 4-0 for Argentina

Option #1

• Bet: Argentina Victory

• Odds Range: 1.01-1.03

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (No)

• Odds Range: 1.16-1.37

▶▶Full Match Details: [Read More]

⚽ FC Syunik vs FC Van Yerevan II
🏟️ Armenian First League
📅 Saturday 28 March; 12:30 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: A one-sided game with some non-zero odds make this one worthwhile for anyone who’s signed up with an operator running this one.

• CXSports says: Right now, Syunik’s sitting in the #2 position in the Armenian First League with five straight victories behind them, more than 2 goals scored per game, and a concession rate of just 0.7 goals per game. Van Yerevan, by contrast, are 2nd-last in the league with zero victories in their last five (in fact, they’ve only won 3 all season), more than 2 goals conceded per game, and just 1.14 scored per game. In other words, this is about as one-sided as they come, particularly given Syunik’s playing this one at home.

• Score prediction: 3-0 for FC Syunik

Option #1

• Bet: FC Syunik Victory

• Odds Range: 1.09-1.09

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (No)

• Odds Range: 1.60-1.60

▶▶Full Match Details: [Read More]

Want to get the best odds on these predictions?

Quick question.

What do Ronaldinho and the first video to ever get 1 million views on YouTube have in common?

That’s right. Ronaldinho starred in that video — the infamous “crossbar” Nike commercial you may or may not have seen.

And that’s not the only interesting Ronaldinho story. Last year, news came out about that one time he almost lost his Ballon d’Or… in a bar.

Now let’s see if you know what year he won it with a quick quiz from our friends at Masters of Trivia.

Question: In what year did Ronaldinho win the Ballon d’Or?

• A: 2001

• B: 2003

• C: 2005

• D: 2007

Think you know the answer?

Read to the end to see if you were right.

⚽ Senegal vs Peru
🏟️ International Friendly
📅 Saturday 28 March; 17:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: The double chance on this looks super safe if that’s your style. Otherwise, the odds on Senegal are really strong given their massive edge.

• CXSports says: While Senegal aren’t quite the sort of team you’d think of as one of the world’s elites, they’re not far off it with #14 in FIFA rankings. Peru, on the other hand, are a much more middle-of-the-road, side that finds itself way back in #53 in the FIFA rankings. And general performances recently reflect this. Senegal, for its part, has 4W/0D/1L in its last 5, while Peru has 1W/1D/3L. And as for what that performance looks like on the field, Senegal scores at about 3-4x the rate of Peru while conceding 2-3x fewer goals. As such, the best Peru can possibly hope for here would be a draw, but even that might be too much of an ask given the sheer differences here. Although we’re not going to say it’s impossible, but only because we haven’t seen these two clash since 2011, so there’s still a small “unknown” element here.

• Score prediction: 2-0 for Senegal

Option #1

• Bet: Senegal Victory

• Odds Range: 1.20-1.45

Option #2

• Bet: Double Chance (Senegal / Draw)

• Odds Range: 1.02-1.10

▶▶Full Match Details: [Read More]

⚽ Racing Avellaneda vs San Martin Formosa
🏟️ Copa Argentina
📅 Sunday 29 March; 01:15 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: A nice one-sided game with some okayish odds (yeah, they’re not great, but we can’t always have everything).

• CXSports says: The last time these two met was all the way back in 2023. And that time, Racing thrashed San Martin 3-1. And by the looks of it, things are headed in a similar direction this time. For its part, Racing is on a six-game winning streak with a concession rate of under a goal a game. San Martin, on the other hand, have just a single victory in their last 6 away games, and have shown a tendency to concede multiple goals per game. That more or less puts current form in line with past head-to-head results, so there’s no prizes for guessing which way this one goes.

• Score prediction: 3-0 for Racing Avellaneda 

Option #1

• Bet: Racing Avellaneda Victory

• Odds Range: 1.06-1.19

Option #2

• Bet: Double Chance (Racing Avellaneda / Draw)

• Odds Range: 1.01-1.04

▶▶Full Match Details: [Read More]

⚽ Gimnasia y Tiro vs Central Norte
🏟️ Argentinian Primera B Nacional
📅Sunday 29 March; 22:30 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: There’s a nice safe double chance play here. (And bonus tip — past head-to-heads point to a high probability of a draw if you want a little more excitement.)

• CXSports says: While past head-to-head results here are fairly mixed (and mostly draws), there is one clear pattern — it’s been a decade since an away side won a game in this fixture (Feb. 2016). That alone would tend to tip the balance in Gimnasia’s favor. But there’s more. Current league results point to Gimnasia being in much better form at this moment — they’ve delivered much better results (3W/1D/1L vs 1W/2D/2L) and are scoring much more consistently (1.4 vs 0.2 goals per game). About the only front on which Gimnasia’s looking worse than Central is in defense, and there, the difference is less much less stark than in attack (1 vs 0.6 conceded per game). Of course, that could be enough to allow Central room to fight for equality (and, if past results mean anything, equality is a definite possibility), although the more likely outcome is a Gimnasia victory.

• Score prediction: 1-0 for Gimnasia y Tiro

Option #1

• Bet: Gimnasia y Tiro Victory

• Odds Range: 1.47-1.71

Option #2

• Bet: Double Chance (Gimnasia y Tiro / Draw)

• Odds Range: 1.03-1.14

▶▶Full Match Details: [Read More]

⚽ Atletico Huracan vs Olimpo Bahia Blanca
🏟️ Copa Argentina
⚽ Sunday 29 March; 23:00 (Europe/Paris)

• Why we’re watching: A nice, clean, one-sided fixture to close out the weekend.

• CXSports says: This one’s a classic mismatch — a top-division team (Huracan) takes on a third division squad (Olimpo) — even if the head-to-head data might say otherwise (Olimpo won 0-2 the last time these two met). The thing to pay attention to here is that the last time these two met was all the way back in 2017, back when Olimpo was operating at a level much closer to Huracan. And that’s simply not the case today, as the 2-division gap might suggest. Of course, that’s not to say this will be a one-sided smash fest. While Huracan is superior, their inability to generate serious attacking volume (they’re only averaging around a goal per game) might put a cap on the damage they can inflict here.

• Score prediction: 1-0 for Atletico Huracan

Option #1

• Bet: Atletico Huracan Victory

• Odds Range: 1.16-1.33

Option #2

• Bet: Both Teams to Score (No)

• Odds Range: 1.31-1.58

▶▶Full Match Details: [Read More]

Make your sportsbook work for you!

Since we’re on the topic this week, let’s close out the week with a famous Ronaldinho quote.

So what’s the moral of the story here?

It’s simple.

Accept your weaknesses for what they are and embrace your strengths.

Want to learn more about Ronaldinho?

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 Ronaldinho Trivia Quiz today.

PS: The answer to this week’s question was [C] — Ronaldinho won the Ballon d’Or in 2005. Discover more trivia like this with the Ronaldinho Trivia Quiz.