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Kuban are in a great form, having won eight of the last nine, and 12 of the last 14 matches. Nine of those wins had double-digit difference. All since the coach Obradović took over. They even played most of those games without Rochestie, their best offensive player. He's back now, and the rest of the team are playing fantastic defense, the best in Europe right now. In the last six home games, only CSKA, the best team in Europe, managed to lose by under 10 points difference. They didn't do much better though, having lost by nine. On the other hand, Fuenlabrada won two of the last 12 road games, and those were against weaker teams in Spain. Eight of their 10 losses were by a double-digit difference, and mostly when they had everyone in the roster. They're coming here without Llorca who's injured, and Rey who got fired, and most importantly, without their two best players, Popović and Diagne. The rebounds and the offense will suffer without them, areas where Kuban are extremely strong. There's a huge difference in quality here, and the guest coach is aware that the national championship is their priority now, and as soon as he sees his team doesn't stand a chance, he'll spare the main players. Even if he played the whole game with his starting five, I don't see them faring well here. Details

Russian team's coach Chutcev said that winning this competition is one of the most important goals for his team this season. They were stopped by Verona last season and want to win it this season as the first Russian team. They opened the competition by trashing Shakhtar 3-0, 3-1. What is more important is the point difference (+17 in Belarus, +24 in Russia in spite losing a set). BATE is the third best team int Belarus, just short of Stroitel and Shakhtar, both of whom were trashed by the Russians. For comparisons sake, BATE won one match against Shakhtar 3-2 but won one point less while losing the other one 1-3 by 10 points. That second one was played in Borisov. They will meet Fakel in Mogilev on neutral grounds. BATE and Fakel played last season, also in Challenge Cup. The Russians have +22 in the 3-1 win and +14 in the 3-0 win. That BATE team lost by 36 points combined and three top players are not on the team anymore. The Russians were serious about Shakhtar and they will be serious about BATE as well. That is why I'll take this handicap with higher stake. Details

Only 8 teams will reach Round of 16 and 8 will join from Champions League. That means only the top spot guarantees the next round in Europe Cup. Two best runner ups will go through as well. Demir are 3-1, their h2h record with Antwerp is worse and if the Belgians win the two of their remaining games, the Turks will not be able to reach the top spot. Antwerp are set to play teams which do not stand a chance of reaching the next round. Demir need to focus on trying to advance through the runner-up spot and they are currently only the third best team in that spot (+23 goal difference). They will try and get that difference higher today. If Antwerp lose to Gravelines, everything changes and the Turks can reach the top spot. But their game starts three hours before Antwerp's game.

Demir win by an average of 23,5 points in this competitions. They haven't been doing well away all season long. They beat Antwerp home by 14, lost by over 20 away to them. They won all 4 European home games, Enisej by 16, Antwerp by 14, Rilski by 22 and Sigal by 42. They recorded 5 out of 6 wins home in the Turkish league. They didn't play last weekend (All-Star weekend) so they had a week to rest and prepare.

Prievidza opened with second Europe Cup stage with a surprising win away over Gravelines but they are clearly in decline. They lost to Bnei by 24, to Lukoil by 15, to Steaua by 11 and Antwerp by 17. They lost to Demir 75-101 home. In the Slovakian championship, the last time they played was on Monday when they lost to Rieker by 79-87. This is their third meeting in five days and have already recorded 5 defeats in the domestic championship.

The home team have a much greater quality. Demir beat Prievidza away by 26 points and I think it would be very surprising if they didn't win by at least as many points today. They want as big a point difference as possible. Getting that point difference will be tougher against Gravelines next week. They beat them in overtime in France. Details

Federer's score against players out of Top 100 has been 20-0 since 2014. There were a lot of former Top 50s, so let's just mention those who are similar to Rubin. Willis had seven games in Wimbledon. Basilashvili had five games here, Kamke three in Brisbane. The year before, Duckworth had one game. Millman took a set, but he did the same against Murray, too. He almost got to Top 50, but long injury breaks stopped him. De Bakker got six games in Miami, Polanski two in Canada at the time when he was a promising name who took sets from the best players. Federer's score against Americans was also interesting because they all have a similar style. Those against Isner don't count, obviously. Federrer's got 4-0 against Sock in sets with no tie-breaks, Querrey had eight games in Wimbledon, Johnson was beaten in three sets in Wimbledon. Fritz is the only exception for winning a set in Stuttgart, but he was almost Top 50.
Rubin is noticeably weaker than any of those listed above. True, he's young, he's still got room for progress, but he definitely can't be compared to Fritz, Harrison, Sock and alike. Even the younger players beat him already. His Top 100 score is 3-10 with only one Top 50 win. He beat Paire here last year, and Paire was surprised. The Spaniard can beat an opponent like this one easily, so that's why we've got two games for the higher margin. Better take it. Details