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Unicaja have what it takes to take on Efes, and that's the basis of this pick. This goes for rebounding, guys to control Heurtel and Krstić, and toughness. Unicaja have mastered that. We may question the motive and drive of the Spanish team, but that's not a problem with Plaza at the tiller, as he won't allow them to relax, especially at home. They lost many games on one possession, and were close to beating Oly at Piraeus last week, and nobody likes to lose in the Euroleague. Even Maccabi were far more motivated than Zvezda last night, with the half-empty arena showing they gave up, and Zvezda still demolished them 20-0 in the last quarter. Juan Plaza is a coach looking for perfection and I doubt they'll lack the attitude to win. On the contrary, Unicaja lost many games under pressure, unable to close out the game, mostly on details. There is no pressure now, they can play relaxed and are even more dangerous like that. The absence of Vasileiadis is negative for their rotation, but Toolson and Stefansson will handle it easily. Kuzminskas will cover a lot for Suarez, if he is out, so that's not a problem either. They easily beat Efes in the preseason, and had +15 at halftime in the first duel they had in the Euroleague, and I see no reason to favor Efes this much today, especially as the Turks don't seem to be doing very well. Laboral demolished them last week, and the final +3 lead hides what actually took place and how terrible Efes played in the first part. Then they barely won against the decomposing Galata, carried by strange calls by the refs in the last 2-3 minutes. They ain't playing well, and Unicaja is not exactly a good matchup for them. Details

Burgos have one of the best offenses in the second division. They are also among the best teams offense-wise, breaking the opponents with fast pace and pressure, especially home. Those are normally games in which they around 70 shots from floor. Burgos score around 87 on average home , with their games ending at 153 points. They are to face Oviedo today, a team that plays the fastest pace in the second division, which suits Burgos a lot. Burgos are definitely better than the visitors quality wise. Oviedo have been conceding 80 points on average the last 10 rounds, and score around the same number. They will not back down from that style either but rather use it to get ahead. Their first head-to-head was less productive but Burgos today and the one that was still looking for their top game is not comparable. Oviedo struggled with injuries back them but they played a match at 164 points against Valladolid last weekend. Lleide, who are probably the most defense-oriented team in the league played a game at 151 against Oviedo, just like against the top defense of the league Palencia. I think team over at Burgos would be the no.1 pick for a unit higher but since the offer at this league isn't that great, my choice is total over. Details

Vesely started the year in the best possible manner but after the title in Auckland started recording straight defeats. He played on clay last and is not to make an interesting transition. He says the change suits him because the Czech team decided to go with the slower version of the hard court that should suit Vesely most. He will have more time to prepare the shots, while his serve should stay just as deadly. He will have the fans supporting him but the experience is no on this side. He will play his first important Davis Cup match, while Tomic already has 14 of those, 12 of which he won. He has been displaying a better game this year to record 14 ATP win already. All of that makes him the favorite today but I don't think he'll sail through to the win. I think the Czech will get at least one set, which should be enough for this margin in this kind of a match. Both players are good servers and I expect at least one tie-break. Details

The first head-to-head finished at 40 goals and I really don't see a reason for this to go over 50 especially because Richo's top goal keeper recorded only 4 out of 25 saves in the first h2h which stayed well under this margin. Damberg made things a bit better with 4/7 in the end. Larsson had 10/25 for the other team. As you can notice, it was a match with very little shots on goal. Only 76 were fired, which means the efficiency to get over this margin should be 65% today in case the number of shots remains the same. That kind of efficiency is mission impossible because both teams are defense-oriented and both will probably be without one of their top scorers - home team without Jepson, visitors without Konradsson (?). IFK will maybe manage to make up for him but Ricoh are powerless offense-wise without Konradsson. Even with him, he scored 15 goals against Kristianstad. On top of everything, there's the good defense performances by both teams. IFK conceded 21 and 16 goals in the last 2 rounds, Ricoh 23 and 22 against two good-quality teams Alingsas and Malmo. Details

I think the margin is off by some 2-3 goals given the situation each team is in ahead of this match. Krim are no longer able to reach QFs, they can only try and win the last home game. The two points are, on the other hand, extremely important for Vardar. As the season advances, more and more players are leaving Krim. First choice play maker Pineau left first, followed by a pivot and an important defense player Goudjo. Coach Bon doesn't have too much choice and will have to improvise in some positions. When it comes to choice of players, Vardar have it best. They beat the good-quality Lepzig without Andrea Lekic. She will be back today to lead their offense and we can expect a much better and more efficient Vardar. We saw them like that a month ago in Skopje where they could have won by 20 goals if the wished to do so. Vardar has an even better situation players-wise today. Details

Since Zouros took over Tofas, they went over 160 only against Efes and Fener, meaning against teams they could not defend well against. All other games were marked by their improved defense and much more disciplined basketball. I don't think they'll stray from that course, and why should they when that brought them within a step from avoiding relegation. Telekom will face them without their best player, Carter, who scored 40 in their previous duel. The away team still have plenty of offensive options (Roll, Gattens, McCauley...), but they have to defend as well. The consecutive defeats in past rounds significantly lessened their chances of getting to the playoff, something coach Sunter is not giving up on. Last week against Trabzon they had no defense, their game fell apart early and it turned into a blowout. With such a game and without Carter, they'll have little to look for today too. Probably due to news about Carter the margins on Tofas dropped so low they're just borderline playable, and as I'm convinced both teams will pull back bit, this margin has room for an under. Details

Kavicic is one of those players who always put the national team first. He played with an injury the last time to fight and in the end lose to Weintraub, who knows how to play well on clay. Kavcic had to undergo another foot injury after Zagreb (the first one was after US Open). He said that he probably won't play Davis Cup. Two weeks ago, Kavcic was working on his forehand shots while sitting in a chair. His rehab period has just ended but there he is in Slovakia. Gombos is on a roll. He beat Thiem in Davis Cup last season even though Thiem was the heavy favorite. He won his first challenger last week in similar conditions in France after beating the favorite Paire. His tennis is aggressive and I don't think Kavcic has the energy for the whole match. He definitely doesn't have rhythm. Besides, Klizan will get them the first point and that will only alleviate the pressure for Gombos. Details

A classic situation when Isner has no rhythm. He won just one on his home tour, and scored two defeats without break. The American said he often trained with Ward in Florida, and the Brit also beat him in the Kooyong exhibition match at the start of the season, so he has little to far from him, but is also aware how important it is to hold the serve. I expect caution on both sides, the stakes are high and Isner plays predictably when out of rhythm. He will focus on his serve and avoid aggression on the return. Everything points to a tie-break, which also entails all kinds of overs on games in the first set. The bet is under the „1st Set Correct Score“ option and pertains to a 7-6 outcome of the first set, regardless of who wins it. Details

Berankis is a talented player who doesn't always plays the smartest game because he often lacks discipline. But the Davis Cup matches are a whole different thing. He is focused because he's not playing for himself only and it shows in the results. When it comes to his Davis Cup matches indoors, he has the impressive 13-1. He likes playing good servers who go on the net and his return then turns into a powerful weapon. Kubot has always enjoyed playing for the national team, but his motivation is the only thing that is not questionable. He played only one match after Australian Open, where he struggled with an injury in the qualification. He played in Wroclaw in Poland to injure his right elbow and lose to Arnaboldi, who opened the season badly. The Polish player will decided whether to focus on doubles matches only after Wimbledon but his greatest problem are injuries. He has not completely recovered from the foot injury, as he said a few months ago and that's always a threat. He is not to play a best-of-5 match and has no rhythm. The conditions are fast and he thinks that good. Bernakis was driving Muller crazy on return in Zagreb, says he won't have struggles with the fans cheering because the same happened in Sarajevo where the packed arena cheered for his opponent. I think the Lithuanian will make his impressive Davis Cup indoors matches record even better. Details

For starters, Berlocq is in great shape and does best playing at home. He is one of the most reliable players and plays his heart out, especially at home. His results in Buenos Aires show how motivated he is and who well he's playing. Souza has come a long way, he is more aggressive, makes less mistakes and is stronger mentally, but still far from Berlocq. The slow surface does not suit his style and he is not as creative. Looking at the fresh results, Souza lost to Rola ta home, and Berlocq swept Rola. The Argentinians also tried very hard to slow down the surface as much as they could, which suits Berlocq perfectly as his movement, speed and fitness will shine in such conditions. In this format, this being DC, with these conditions and the fact Berlocq is playing at home, he should win by at least 8 games. Details

Klizan did the South American tour badly and didn't want to join the team for the Davis Cup but rather focus on his carrier, on the tournaments to come. He never really got along with Mecir, but Hrbaty talked him into it. His conscience kicked in and I think he's 100% focused on Davis Cup now, which is not what I can say about Zemlja. He is still dealing with the consequences of mono and the Slovenian media claim he will never get back to being his old self again. He did well for six games and then lost power in Zagreb. He was helpless against Bedene, the player he used to always beat convincingly, even though Bedene did nothing special. Zemlja's last two tournaments were futures in Iran. He reached final at one and won the title at the other, both time acing the same opponents in the final (Marie). He said he was tired but that it's good only one of this matches ended in three sets. Klizan will decide this match. If he plays with enough focus and I believe that he will because he's not playing for himself and because he will want to use as little energy as possible, I think handicap will work without any difficulty. On the other hand, Zemlja will have less power as the match advances. The fact he was wining at minor futures tournaments doesn't mean much since he has no power for tennis at a higher level. It may change in the future but not now. I think the Slovak team will have everything settled by Saturday, enabling Klizan to start thinking about Indian Welles and his carrier. Details

Pedersen didn't play since September of last year. He played only two futures matches and Davis Cup matches in the last 4 years. It is clear that tennis is not his main focus, with Davis Cup matches being the only ones he really cares about. Kuznetsov is a good ATP level player, his last matches were in these conditions and I don't think he will have problems with Pedersen. Out of the better players he met, the Dane lost to Albot, who's not better than Kuznetsov within this margin. I don't think Pedersen can get a set, with one tie-break being the best he can do. I expect Kuznatsov to win at least one easily to cover this margin. Details

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