betprepare.com

Atletico have been playing home matches great for years. Rare are the teams who don't lose here, and I'm sure Las Palmas won't be one of those. Aletico lost Turan, but got a lot of new players. What's most important, they got Jackson Martinez from Porto. He's a player born to score, and I hope he'll fit right with Griezman and the rest of the team. Vietto, Carrasco, Oliver Torres also came, and Filipe Luis came back to the defense. They're a really great team. Las Palmas played the second league last year, but despite a few known names, I doubt they can do much here. The team leader is Juan Carlos Valeron who turned 40 already. He can play the second league all right, but this will be too much for him. He'll be useful against weaker teams at home, but could be a disadvantage today. I expect Atletico to win today. Details

Both these teams basically ended the EC - they won their playoff matches for places 9-12 against Netherlands (Spain) and Norway (Germany). They got placed to top 10 teams and will get placed to the WC next year directly.
The Germans can be content with the 9th place, but there's also one big motive. They played Spain in the last round of the group phase of this competition. They only needed one point to be among the top eight teams. Spain seemed to lack interest, they had two defeats and didn't stand a chance to get to the main phase of the tournament. The Germans were leading for most of the time, but then the Spaniards woke up and ended up beating Germany 26-29. Because of that, the Romanians, who lost any hopes by that point, got to top eight instead of Germany. Either way, this is the Germans' chance to get even. They are the better team, and they earned to be in the top six teams, while the Spaniards weren't even expected to get to top 10 before the tournament began. Spain rely on a single player offensively, the right back Mbengue who is dominant physically, but can be shut down with a good defense. They don't force fast offenses, they rarely profit from fastbreaks, they lose a lot of balls offensively (21 in that duel against Germany, while the Germans lost only 10). The Germans have a better offense, their wings are more efficient, as well as the goalies, they make lot less mistakes in the offense, and they're also more motivated to win today. Details

Hungary knew how to handle Israel even when Artmenko and Velikiy were on the team. There is no reason for Israel not to be defeated today. Hungary played their best Europa League game last Sunday and if they manage to do like that again, the Israelis won't stand a chance. Hungary are a much better team individually. Horvath has played at top European teams, Liliom has a good international carrier as well while Sandor had a good season at German runner-up Stuttgart. Israel lack stability, they struggled against Georgia away and they're at least 20% weaker away. There are no secrets between these two teams and tradition is on Hungary's side. They beat Israel even incomplete, but look better than ever now. They have continuity, the form is getting better ahead of EC and they are home. Israel will struggle to adjust and their better results in EL so far is due to a more favorable draw. I expect Hungary to finish ahead of Israel. I expect them to record two wins this weekend because I think they're a better team. Israel suits them, they will go off to a good start and have more options in offense. Israel are weaker than before, the three key players are no longer there. My choice here is Hungary's win in handicap because of everything. Details

Melsungen 53 and 55, Löwen 50, Lemgo 51 and Lubbecke 48 goals. Those are Hannover's results against the first league teams in the pre-season. The turnaround in their game since the coach Bürkle came is obvious, he wants the defense to be much stronger than they were at Nordmeyer, and Hannover should be as offensively oriented as in the last season, even though they brought back the great forward Morten Olsen. Today, they'll face a defensively strong team who got the 5th place last season, thanks to their defense and the great Prošt. Since Göppingen are without Nyokas now, that only works for this bet. Christopherson is probably out for Hannover, which means that Gustafsson and/or Szücs will play as left backs, and that means good defense. This is the first round, the teams still have to work on their games, and I doubt this will go towards 60 goals. Details

I don't see what would make Estonia such a favorite in this match. Their wins against Iceland or the Philippines definitely can't be a measure, those were revue matches. Netherlands are a complete opposite of those teams, their basketball is rough and they have a great defense, as well as rebounds. Those are all elements that shouldn't suit the Estonians, and they won't have it easy like they did against the nonexistent defenses by Iceland or the Philippines. Netherlands will feel no pressure here, while the home team will. They didn't play well against any team with a good defense so far. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Netherlands win this match, and they should definitely cover the handicap. Details

France finished the first big competition of the season in style - by winning the World League. The players got exhausted mentally and physically, and coach Tillie gave them three weeks to rest. They've started practicing last Wednesday. On the other hand, the Iranians finished their try of the same competition sooner, but that doesn't mean they rested. They were getting ready to the very important World Cup. Since the World Cup is where the tickets for the Olympics next year will be dealt, I expect the Asian champions to take this seriously. Coach Kovač took the same lineup that should play in Japan here (if there aren't any injuries, of course), and that suggests we should see some tactical acrobatics by the Iranians. France will be without the captain and setter Toniutti whose wife should give birth one of these days, and they're not the same team without him. With Jaumel in the team, hey lost a set to Korea, Czech, Japan took two sets, and I think that the fully motivated Iran can take advantage of that. An additional plus for this bet is that the French won the World League. Iran usually react against teams like that, so their win is worth taking. Details

The difference in quality is huge here. Rudar lost a lot of players just before the start of the season and won the one game against Domzale. They got very lucky in it as Domazle played better. Rudar are still nothing special and their game is still not good. Maribor's coach got sacked last week following a defeat to Olimpija, meaning former assistant coach Gajser is too be in charge of the team today. Everyone at the club says this is sort of a fresh start after the got knocked out of Champions League and a few other bad results in the new season. There is motivation for Maribor in this game. In fact, all that the're talking about is a win. I've decided on the regular bet on their win even though I would not be surprised if they win by more than one goal. Details

I think this margin is still too low considering these teams' game styles. The Philippines' defense is very porous, the coach Baldwin says the results aren't his priority, but to try to make some things work in their game. They played at 170 points against Estonia yesterday, 151 against the super slow Netherlands, and they concede 89.5 points per match. Their offense started working against Estonia, and that only adds to this pick. Iceland force faster game, transition and shorter offenses, and will definitely like playing an opponent like this one, because the offensive players will finally get a chance to work their thing, after staying under 70 against Estonia. But, the Estonian and the Dutch defenses are a different world compared to the Philippines. The Icelanders like to shoot a lot of three-pointers, and that's normal for the Philippines. Even though the Icelanders stayed under this margin in all four pre-season matches, their opponent makes me take this bet. I think the over for the match is worth a medium stake. Even if Stefansson doesn't play for Iceland. Details

Eintracht weren't too successful against Augsburg lately, but I feel like that's going to change today. The current team showed some good things in Wolfsburg, lead by the new/old coach Veh, despite losing in the end. It's hard to imagine Augsburg at the top of the league table again, and the duel against Hertha showed they'll have a tough period ahead. So, while the odds to their wins against their opponents are still good on account of them getting the 5th place last season, I think we should try and use them. An additional handicap for the guests is the fact that their forward Bobadilla is suspended today, and that should make them less dangerous offensively, because Molders and/or Caiuby aren't up to par, honestly. Let's also add that this is the first home match for Eintracth this season, with over 40 thousand fans. The fact that their win is paid pretty well, and all that we said so far, I think all that is good enough of a reason to use this option. Details

I don't want to sound like a smartass, but if the bookmakers invested a bit more effort, they'd know why Ivory Coast lost the first round to Capo Verde convincingly. It seems the bookmakers thought that was only a bad day or whatever, judging by the odds they set. But in reality, Ivory Coast came to this competition with their second line-up because their best one are on a strike for not being paid for playing the Afrobasket in 2013. Only Diabate is here, and he can't do everything himself. Zimbabwe lost the first round by 20, just like Ivory Coast, but they matched Algeria well, and didn't deserve to be beaten like that. They fell apart to the opponents' zone, and lost strength by the end. The Ivory Coast can't play that well, their biggest strength (point guard and a bit of the center position) is also where the Zimbabweans are the strongest. Considering all of this, this is an evened out match in the worst case scenario, but I would even suggest that Zimbabwe are the favorite here. Details

Both Serbia and China are hoping to secure a spot in the Olympics at this World Cup. Both teams are very good - China proved it at Grand Prix, Serbia not so much because they didn't play with the best lineup all the time. In the end, they tanked the so that they wouldn't have to play the final. The reason for it was their wish to get here in an ideal shape, which means Serbia will be better here than in any other game this year. China also sacrificed the Grand Prix for this. They lost team captain Hui Ruoqi, which is a problem but not for this bet. Without her, this will definitely be a closer game.

I don't think Serbia are without a chance here but the points over seems like a very good choice. The first think I always check are head-to-head games but since these two teams didn't play head-to-head this season. However, the previous matches suggest that this one should be an over. Last year in Grand Prix, the match was settled in the fifth set. Two years ago, they played two matches, one of which was settled in five sets, the other one in four, with a total of 180 points. I expected the margin to be around that number today. Even that I would gladly take. China will be without their captain today compared to those matches from two ears ago, which is why I think Serbia stand an even better chance. Serbia should win a set, it wouldn't be surprising if the match is settled in five sets again. The margin is far too low. This is a match of high stakes and tradition speaks in favor of this bet. Details