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Turkey has been weakened, they have had very short preparations and very few friendly before this Grand Prix. I don't usually trust Barbolini, who's in charge of Turkey, and I trust him even less today. Without their first-choice setter and opposite, Turkey will struggle against Japan. I will use a modest stake as I fear Japan might make a few compromises in their squad. If they use their best squad, there should be no problems. Last season in Ankara, Japan won by 3-1. The Turks had Demir and Aydemir and Japan had the identical squad. Japan have played a lot of games in the preparations and that's another huge advantage for them. Details

Americans seem to be better than Russia at this moment. I will take their head-to-head game from the Montreux Masters late May into consideration for this prediction. The US beat Russia 3-1 in an early stage of that competition. What has changed since? United States now have setter Glass, first choice opposite Murphy, and the great blocker Akinradewo. Those three make the team better by some 20-30%, and in addition to that, they will be better in the libero position too, since Hagglund, who played that position in Switzerland, isn't as good as Banwarth and Davis. Four wins they recorded in the friendly matches with Brazil suggest the form is high. History is also on the American side - they have been beating Russia as a rule lately. The European champions did the Jelcinj Cup (not a brilliant performance), and won the second place in the end. They lost an important blocker Shlyakovaya, and that handicap is even more significant if we know Morozova is still to join the team. That means Podskalnaya and Zaryazhko will be in the block today, and that position is even weaker at Russia than it was in Switzerland. Desite being on the team, I don't expect Obmochaeva in the starting line up, since she just started preparing. Even if she makes it in the line up, I don't expect she'll be at her usual level. I think Malykh will play the opposite, as she did against the US late May. Koshaleva should do Russia some good as a receiver, but since since Scherban, who did brilliantly in Switzerland, has injured, I don't expect much from the Russians in that respect. So, we have the US, who are clearly doing very well (better by 20-30%). Russia are maybe 10% better compared to the May match. The Americans are bursting with confidence after the 4 wins against Brazil, which leads me to believe they're currently in better form than Russia. Marichev is a coach who is focused on the main event of the season - the World Championship, as he did last season when Russia did an average Grand Prix, and then did brilliantly in the EC. The Americans should win here. Details

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In my opinion, the bookies have made a huge mistake here as they put the Czechs as the favorites. The odds have been done based on previous result. The Czechs are not as strong as before as they rejuvenated their team. They're led by Havelkova and Havlickova and the rest of the squad is pretty young. They still have the quality but Croatia is stronger in individual terms, and I believe as a team as well as they have been preparing in Maribor for the past month. Judging by the statements from the Croatian team, the atmosphere is great and the absence of Poljak is the only handicap. Fabris and Alajbeg have what it takes to replace Popović while Topić wouldn't be in the starting team as it is. Croatia have gotten a nice confidence boost in their training game against Turkey. They are eager for a good game and they can't wait for the competition to start. I see this as at least a 50-50 game, and the stake would be even higher if this weren't the first game and pretty early in the day. Details

This bet is based on the match these teams played in April. They faced each other in the second round of qualifications in Greece. On the hot Kalamata court in front of 600 viewers, the Greek celebrated with 3-1 (25-15, 21-25, 29-27 and 25-21). So, small 12 points of difference, and that's where the margin is today. Today, Greece won't have the advantage of the home court, but the Swiss will. More importantly, the Greeks came weakened, without their four best players. Stranzali who won 26 points then is missing today. The Swiss could have won the third set then, but they gambled a huge advantage. Judging by that match, we'll see an evened out match today. The Greeks did defeat the Croatians yesterday, but that was Croatians' fault. Nothing like that should happen to the Swiss today because they know they can handle the Greeks based on their experience. They played even with them when Greece were complete, so they're much stronger today, and they have the home court. That's why there's no doubt that they can cover the handicap offered for them today, and not lose convincingly at home. Details

Greece are regarded as the favorites based on their previous results, they took the fifth spot last year on cadet EC. The came to Switzerland with a weakened squad, without their best player Strantzali, receiver Psoma, their first setter and important central blocker. So, 4 key players missing and they even don't have their reserve opposite as she missed the start of preparations. Greece have also had messy and short preparations, which is not good for them as their squad isn't too organized and the players aren't familiar with each other. This means they can't be such strong favorites. Croatia are in a completely different state of things, they have had ideal preparations and have improved their form game by game. They paid special attention to this first game against Greece. The weakened opponents are a chance for Croats to get a win that would put them one step closer to a place at the EC. They have the quality, the mood in the team is great and they can't wait for the tournament to start. An advantage for Croatia lies in the fact that they know more about Greece than Greece know about them. Details

Not much to say here, these two teams played at the cadet EC last yea and both games ended in the fifth set. I expect the same for today, Russia are favored here without a good cause as they are the hosts. Germany have confirmed their quality here against the reigning European champions Poland. Russia started playing better in the second half of their game against France and both teams are ready for these qualifications. The game is very important and both teams will do anything to win. This definitely shouldn't be a one-way street and so an over seems like the logical choice. Both matches played last year went into the fifth set after a huge battle and only 1 out of 8 25-point sets ended by a point difference of over 3. The margin is low and this win should go through in four sets if the average result is 25-20. Considering everything, that's a very plausible scenario and the margin should by at least 4 points higher. Details

Poland seem like a team much closer to a win here. I don't see why the Germans are regarded as the favorites as they took the 7th spot last year while the Poles are the reigning European champions and would have qualified for the EC had they not been swept with injuries. The Poles were unlucky with their draw as they had to host the Italians, the vice-champions of Europe who got their revenge for the last year's finals. In comparison to that round, the Poles got Nowakowska back, but the bookmakers take Damaska's absence into consideration, even though the Poles have a good team without her. They've had better preparations, their coach is happy with the performance and they seem to be in the right form. They're a strong team that never gives up and as they won both their final and semifinal matches last year in the 5th set. The Germans have had shorter preparations and have played less games and are missing two players - Jäckle and receiver Schubert. In addition, they changed their libero Petter with 15-year old Dreblow. All in all, the Germans can't be the favorites here, I see this as a 60-40 game for the Poles. Details

Germany and Poland with lineups that will play today are even forces. The German coach is aware of that, and expects a much more difficult match today, that either team could win. Yesterday, the Germans won in three, but two out of three sets were with a small difference in points. It was a pretty evened out match, neither of the teams played really great, but Poland were far below their abilities. It was the same last weekend in Poland, when the Polish played the first match badly, without winning a set, then got even for the defeat against the Germans the following day, playing much better. I expect Poland to be themselves today, they won't lack motive because a defeat would make them lose their chance for the placement to the finals, which is their goal. I expect Zaroslinska and Durajczyk more in the game. The Polish are definitely stronger than the last weekend when they had a win and a defeat against the Germans. The home team are overrated, in my opinion, after the yesterday's win, the odds should be much more evened out. Poland definitely have a chance to win today, but I'll go for the safer bet, that they'll win two sets, and that's paid pretty well. Details

After yesterday's win Spain have become a slight favorite against Greece and I cannot agree with that as Greece are a better and a more experienced team. The only thing working in Spain's favor is the home court. They will be under pressure as everyone will expect another win and that's not something they have coped with so far. Yesterday's match could have gone either way and the Spaniards were a bit lucky. Greece can definitely do better and in more than 50% of matches between teams of similar strength, the team that lost the first match won the second. This is a very likely scenario for today and it's definitely worth betting on away team's victory at very good odds. Details

Despite the total number of points margin being a few points lower, this one at 180,5 that can still be found is still not too high for this match to be an over. These two teams met on Friday, the match lasted 4 hours, the total number of points was 186. Greece won it, and they're the favorite for the win again. I think the game might be quite close again, and the Poles should put up an even greater fight today. All of their three head to head Europa League matches were over at this margin, I believe the same will happen today. Greece are a young team as well, prone to ups and downs, which is another reason for an over. I think the margin is off by 2-3 points. Details

Germany have potential, but I think Greece will take advantage of their inexperience once again. I think the Germans cannot do much better than in the first game, only 48 hours later. Greece were dominant on Friday, Germany made a lot of mistakes. Greece lost a set, but won the other three as a much better team. Beating Germany means a lot to them, regardless of the fact Germany have many young players on the team. The motivation for Greece is high, and it will be just as high today. The home team are counting on even better fan support today, and I think Greece will record another win. I give them more than 50% of chances, so everything above 1,70 is worth opting for. Details

Peru have brought a pretty young team to Panamerican games in Mexico. In last year's games when they were the hosts, they ended up as the 8th placed team, losing out to Canada by 3-0 in the battle for the 7th spot. On that competition, Canada had beaten them earlier in group stage, albeit with more difficulty in five sets. In comparison to that squad, Peru only have 4 players, 2 of which were in the first squad. None of the players are older than 22. Among the players missing are Soto, Uribe, and Ortiz and these are crucial players, which will definitely be felt today. This is a chance for Peru's coach Malaga to test some younger players. I don't think they have much of a chance against Canada, who are also missing some players, but a lot less of them. They are without Love, Marcelle and Thibeault, while the rest of their squad from last year is here. Canada certainly have more quality and experience here. They are bigger favorites than the odds suggest and they should win today. Since the odds on Canada are dropping, I will take their win with a handicap. Details

Turkey didn't do too well in the European League with their youth team last year. They ended up with a 6-6 score and I think their squad was stronger than this year. Since we don't know just what the young Turks can do in the senior competition, I believe they are regarded as too big favorites. Slovenia are facing a hot and heavy atmosphere in Mersin and they saw that at the Mediterranean games last year and should have no problem adjusting to the conditions. Slovenia are weakened but are coming here after the EC qualifications. This means they should be better organized than Turkey, who prepared just for this competition. Slovenia have had 6 competitive and 6 friendly games in this season. Their EC qualifications have been a relative success and they should feel no pressure today. This could be a problem for young Turks. Turkey beat Slovenia in Mersin last year, but that was Turkey's A team. None of the players from that team will be here today while Slovenia will have 6 girls from that game. Since the odds on Slovenia winning a set are dropping, I will go for an over as the margin is pretty low. Details

Russia played a great match against Brazil yesterday, and got the chance to decide their placement to the semifinals. The Russians need to win by 24 points today, and I believe they'll get it. They won't lack motive, the Switzerland are a class below. The margin we have for the points total will go over if the Russians celebrate with 24 points difference. This means they have to win with 25, in three sets, of course. I believe that if they go full force from the beginning, fight for every point, they can get what they want. If they fulfill their goal, I believe they won't win the match with exactly 24 points difference. The Swiss won't get much to saay here, I don't think they can deal with Russia. They lost to China here with 24 points difference, and China didn't care about the difference with small points here. They also lost to Brazil who was in the same situation with 29. They recently lost to Poland in the EC qualifications with 28 and 33, and I really don't see why they wouldn't lose to Russia with 25 or more points, when Russia needs to win in three sets with the small 24 points difference. Details

I thought about Bosnia beating Austria last week and then I gave up. I won't do that today and I will trust them. Last week they lost against 16-14 in the fifth set against Austria in a completely tied game. Bosnia had 9-5 and 13-11 in the fifth set but they didn't manage to end the game. Here's why I trust them today - after that defeat, they will be more motivated to win. The home fans and home court helped Austria then and this time, the match is played on neutral venue. It's also important to note that Austria will be without their important central blocker Rimser, their best player and leader. She is gone as the beach volleyball season started and that says enough how serious the Austrian approach to indoor volleyball is. Bosnia were not ideally prepared for the first tournament due to floods in their home country, and still almost won the game. I believe Bosnia will know how to chose their tactics for today and put the Austrians under pressure, keep their main player Marković away from the net, make the best use of Rimser's absence and win in the end. Details

It's clear that China are the favorites but Russia will not be completely harmless either. The Russian should be able to get a set, and in that case this over should go through. It's through that China have their best squad here and Russia have brought 7 new players. Despite that, Russia can put together a very solid starting line-up. After all, three players that they did bring (Kosienko, Malova and Shlyakhovaya) were in the starting line-up at the EC finals. They are here with Malykh, their reserve opposite from the EC, and Zaryazhko, the player who missed the EC due to injury. This is a chance for some of them to impose themselves. An additional bonus is that the season has just begun and no team will be too brilliant as it's still early on. There will be ups and downs and this should work in favor of an over. Details

The well-disciplined Bulgaria will beat Azerbaijan today. Their win home seem like a sure thing, and I am opting for a win in three sets. Lead by a new coach, the Russian Kuzyutin, Bulgaria are looking good, some absences in spite. They beat both Portugal and Greece convincingly, and today is their chance to end the tournament they're hosting on a perfect record. Azerbaijan have nothing they should fear, because they haven't been doing good in Sofia. Bulgaria did much better, they beat Portugal, which beat Azerbaijan, in three sets, and Greece against whom Azerbaijan struggled quite a lot yesterday by 35 points. I don't see why the win against Azerbaijan wouldn't be just as convincing. Bulgaria spent a lot less time on the court, they will be more fresh. Another advantage is the fun support. They have the chance to eliminate the main opponent for the title with a convincing win today. Something is off at Azerbaijan, probably the coach-players connection doesn't work. Azerbaijan is in the same kind of trouble they were in the EC. They did that competition badly, and Garayev quit after the second game. He took his resignation back after the Championship to lead the team once again. They made 36 mistakes against Greece, 40 against Portugal. That's not good stats ahead of the game against Bulgaria, who are one or two level ahead of Greece and Portugal. It looks like today might turn out to be a proper disaster for Azerbaijan. Their game could fall apart if Bulgaria opens the game right. If you don't have the set under as a choice, you can opt for Bulgaria's 3-0 win. Details

I don't trust Spain and I will go against them today again. The odds would probably be even today had they beaten Montenegro yesterday. They didn't and Slovenia are the favorites here. Even before the qualifications had started, I was counting on Slovenia to win today. The only advantage Spain have is playing at home, but one could see yesterday that it's not an advantage. The pressure was too high and the Spaniards lost the game against Montenegro pretty smoothly. They played a poor game, had 37 errors, and if you see that Montenegro had 43 errors, it's clear that Spain's opponents didn't do too well either. Spain will probably play a better game today, but they need to play a whole lot better to beat Slovenia. The reason for their errors is poor organization as Slovenia had much better preparations for this game. They played more and did better, they have a better and a more experienced squad. Against the Czech Republic, they played two sets on a par, after two weak sets at the start which were a result of fear. They have nothing to be afraid of today. If they repeat their performance from the third and fourth set against the Czech Republic, Slovenia will not have problem today. Slovenia had 28 errors against the Czech Republic, a team much stronger than Montenegro. This shows that they are more stable than Spain. The problem was that the Czechs put them under pressure with the serve, and that will not be the case today as Spain's performance is based on defense. For a medium stake, it's worth going for Slovenia's win, as they have more quality and should win this one in normal circumstances. Details

Spain are very much overrated here. Montenegro can at least get a set, they have the quality and are coming to Madrid after playing three matches in the first round of qualifications and winning all three. They have this advantage over Spain, they have played a few games. Their performance has been steadily improving on that tournament and I expect them to play even better today. They have been together for almost two weeks and they had enough time to organize themselves. Primarily because of their players from foreign clubs who didn't have a chance to do so in their clubs. Spain have a rejuvenated squad and one might expect fluctuations in their performance because of that. I'm not sure they can play an entire game in good rhythm, they will have ups and downs and that's a chance for Montenegro. Spain's expectations are also very high, they are playing at home and will be under pressure. We will see if they are ready to cope with that. They have no outstanding players, they might even lack a leader, like the one the Montenegrins have in Bokan. I don't trust the rejuvenated Spain, a set for Montenegro pays well and it will be my bet for this game. Details