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We deliberately did not cover their previous matches in the qualifiers and left that for here, since that was over a year ago, and also some details are different. Norway did win both matches (23-25, 18-30), but first things first. The first match in Oradea was an even one almost to the very end, with 22-22 at 57mins, and Romanians deserved a draw at least. The rematch four days later was a blowout, partly due to the outcome of the first match and partly since right wing Nechita did not play and Perianu was semi-fit. Most importantly, best Romanian player Cristina Neagu did not play in either of those matches, and she is crucial for this team. Norway on the other hand fielded their best setup, with Lunde on goal, Sulland and Edin on perimeter, all of which will not be on this EC.
The current situation favors Romania much more, as they have Cristina Neagu in peak form and much better than in 2010, when she was dubbed best in the world. They did great work in the preparation period and will be playing where they feel almost at home. You can rarely threaten Norway, but the fact is they lost their edge on offense. They lack elite perimeter players they had these past years, they have great pivots and wingers, and they lost a lot with goalie Lunde leaving, as she was the foundation of their success in the past decade. I expect a much closer match than the odds suggest, and Romania staying within the margin for handicap Details

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This is a game between two teams who are currently in the middle of the table. Idman has an extra score and match over Bursa.Both teams want to be in the Top Five in the championship.
What I expect from this match to be the key for Bursa's win is the quality of home (Turkish) players. Almost all of them are former or potential national team players. Unlike Bursa, Idman has only one experienced middle blocker. Also, the coach rotates the setters too much. Statistically speaking, Bursa are a team who have a smaller number of errors in all elements of the game, they have the height, and with the arrival of the Dominican Republic tandem they got bigger power and offense quality. In offered odds above 1.85 for Bursa's win I see the value. Details

Fjellhammer are currently in position 9 in the table and meet Levanger, who are in the danger zone with three points less. I think the changes made on Levanger's team over the past month are note-worthy. After being relegated last season, they have rejuvenated the team played mostly with players from their youth ranks. The results up until mid-November were horrible - only one win and seven defeats. That is when three well-experienced and former Levanger's players joined. With two of them on the team, Levanger beat Fane 25-22 for their second victory this season. The third acquisition Andeneas is to have her debut today. She played at Lada in Russia last season, and before that had a successful run with Byasen. This will be her first game in almost a year.
Three new signings, together with Odrowska, and a few others, can stand up to almost all top second division teams, especially those such as Fjellhammer, who barely managed to avoid relegation last season. Levanger cannot afford to drop any more points, and betting on their win with this stake is a good choice. Details

Denmark's victory deserves more merit, but since it's a friendly match, we'll play it cautiously. Denmark are one of the teams in top form prior to the start of the European championship, both overall and individually, and are a favorite for the title or at least one of the medals there. Even with numerous rotations they still displayed the most consistent performance here and scored most goals of all four teams. Lending added weight to this match is that coach Pytlick rested his four potential starters against Serbia after their victory against Norway the day before. Right back Louise Burgaard and picker Mete Gravholt were not even on the team, back Pernille Holmsgaard and goalie Sandra Toft watched the match from the bench, while the fifth, left winger Ann Grete Norgaard, played only limited time. adding to this is the fact the team's 'brain', Kristina Kristiansen, played on left wing, not as an organizer, and still demolished Serbia's defense for the most part of the match. This means we can expect a more rested best lineup of Denmark in their last testing match prior to the EC, highly motivated against the French too, looking to pay them back for the defeat in their last duel in Denmark early last month. France played great defense in the first two matches of this tournament, but struggled visibly on offense, caused by some players being either out of form or returning after breaks due to injuries. Summing it up, Denmark to win is worth the set stake. Details

Dudungen won the first head-to-head match in Slovenia on account of experience and the numerous mistakes the young Slovenians made. They are closer to winning today as well, but they are not as good to completely outplay the opponent and hope for a convincing win in straight sets. Braslovce had staggering 41 errors in the first match, with the Swiss team not far behind (total of 32). Braslovce opened brilliantly, won the first set and then lost focus to lose in the end as the Swiss took advantage of all the mistakes.

Braslovce player three matches and won all three over the past two weeks (one Cup, two Slovenian championship matches). They managed to make a comeback after being down 2-0 in the match with Luka Koper, the only undefeated team in the Slovenian championship up to that moment. Brasovce are by far the youngest team in Challenge Cup and clearly lack experience. But, the potential is there. Four of their players won goal medal at the European Championship for junior players. Dudingen, on the other hand, are an American ex-pat community, with 5 Americans on the team. All of them joined this summer. Dudingen need more time to get organized, they are not doing well in the Swiss championship (2-4 after 6 rounds). They lost the last match to Schaffhausen 0-3 and before that beat Lucern in straight sets as well. They recorded one other win - against bottom table Toggenburg, a team that won only 2 sets this season.

Ahead of this away game in Switzerland, Braslovce's coach Jeroncic said they will try and play aggressive game to stand up to Dudingen as much as they possibly can. And I trust him they will. I expect at least two good sets on their part, and I expect them to win at least one, which is very well paid. Details

Uralochka won the first match convincingly, judging by the point-difference in sets and the total points difference. Uralochka were statistically better in all aspects of the game, but the numbers were not that different, except when it came to attack. I think the Romanian team should have done better since they possess both experience and potential to stun the favorites from Yekaterinburg. First and foremost, they have a lot of good quality international players and a budget of one million euros for this season. Coach Aksentijevic regularly gives all of his 12 players a chance on the court and some of them have already played European competitions (receivers Klaric and Kamenova, libero Vujovic, Esdelle, Bacsis, middle blockers Gavrilescu and Fales. All of them played for the top Romanian teams. There's Siljkovic from Serbia and Williams from USA as well. Setter Ana Tiem has a very important role on this team. She is a member of the Brazilian national team and can definitely help in blocking as well.

Uralochka have undergone changes ahead f the season, with some of their players leaving (Ruiz, Zaryazhko, Jack, and Chernova). Setter Matienko and spikers Maofeeva and Ilchenko joined. Two of them are well experienced, but didn't play important roles on their former teams, while Ilchenko has potential, but lacks experience. 9 or 10 players are on the roster at the most. They beat two newly relegated teams and one from the bottom part of the table in the Russian championship, and beat Omsk and Dynamo Moscow in straight sets.

Uralochka reached CEV Cup final last season, but with a better team. They beat Dinamo Bukarest in the challenge round, but lost the rematch 3-2. CSM Bucharest are at least as good now as Bucharest were back then. CSM played an international tournament in Istres last month to win all five of their games (French championship defending champions Cannes, Asterix Kieldrech from Belgium twice...). I expect them to step up today and display a much better game to win at least two sets. Details

We can't miss on this handicap margin. This is EHF Cup 3rd round second leg game. First leg was supposed to be a match between Davis and Goliath and ended as a shock win for the Greek team (28-27). The first game was a circus staged by the Russians. The coach reshuffled the team, leaving all the key player mostly out. 14 players were in the game in total. They barely played defense and failed to take advantage of 12 minutes with an extra player in offense.

I think they will now prove themselves to make up for the first game. They are at least a few levels above the opponents. Greek team is great in the domestic championship (undefeated in all 8 rounds) but they are horrible in European terms. Jonijas were defeated by a double digit goal difference last few seasons to a Dutch and s Swiss team. Their second best scorer in the first leg game with Astrahanochke was 43-year-old right back Brauer. The rest of the team is made up of mostly Greek players.

Astrahanochka mostly have good-quality Russian players. Teenage prodigy Vyakhireva is their top star and they are on a 7-2 record in the Russian league after 9 rounds. They beat every team that is quality-wise close to Jonijas by at least 15 goals. Astrahanochka recorded a win over Stavropol 39-25 in Russian Cup game giving the Greeks a glimpse of what they can expect today. After the embarrassment last week, they are expected to win by at least 10 goals (I think by 15 at least). They have two players at each position, run a lot, and played EHF Cup last season. Details

This is an extremely important match for both teams. Nykobing are the team with the least goals achieved, 19.5 on average, but they also have the third best defense of the league. Their attacks are long, their back court is very slow, and as equally efficient in the offense; four players who achieved more than 80% of the goals come from the back court. On the other side we have Skive who have the third "worst" offense, but also a very bad defense, and they're a team with the most goals received. But if we take a better look, that negative score was against top teams against whom they've lost with a double-digit score difference. In the matches where the teams were similar to Nykobing, the top was 48 goals. Those matches were dominated by defenses, but there was a large number of technical errors in the offense of both teams, and the tempo was way too slow. With Skive it's the same as with Nykobing: everything depends on two to three players. Last year their matches ended at 48 and 49, but Skive at the time had Jane Schumacher at their side, who dictated the pace of the game. This season she is the key link missing from the team. Details

Viborg's greatest problem is a small number of players on the roster. On the other hand, the number of player they can choose from is Esbjerg's greatest advantage. They have two players for each position and top scorer from last season Estevana Polman. As for Polman, she didn't play much in the first match against Viborg with groin injury. She found her rhythm the last month to become one of top players as her team faced Randers and Odense with 11 goals combined. Esbjerg opened their first head-to-head early in the season poorly, but dominated the second half to win deservedly in the end. Esbjerg have the upper hand today. If the odds were 1.65 on average for Esbjerg early this season, the ones offered today have value at the stake set here. Details

Today, Lepzig and Metzingen are to play the 17th round match that was supposed to take place early March next year. Metzingen are one point up in the table (one game more). Leipzig won their first head-to-head meeting this season some two months ago by one goal 26-25. Leipzig had a better start and a lead at half time, but Metzingen took initiative in the second half to stay two points up until the last five minutes, when Leipzig caught up and took the lead. Metzingen had the chance to equalize and get one point.

What is the situation like ahead of this match? Leipzig are playing two competitions. They lost home to Dinamo on Sunday and play a Championship League match in Crimea on Friday. That match will decide how many point Leipzig will carry to the next round and which place they will end up in. They still can't count on injured Rosike, Diehl, Lederer and Atladottir, all of whom were there for the first head-to-head with Metzingen. Middle back Lang is on the team now.

That defeat to Leipzig was Metzingen's last one. It was followed by 6 consecutive wins, the last one being recorded away in Bad Wildungen last weekend. They are on a winning streak, have top back players, and last season's top scorer Minevskaya. With 74 goal, she the top scorer this season as well, while Kudlacz, Leipzig's top scorer has 56 goals so far. Metzingen are now better organized and expect even better performances as the season advances.

Leipzig took a three-goals lead at one point in the last head-to-head game to go on and fight to prevent Metzingen from scoring the equalizer. The team is tired after two consecutive defeats and they have that important CL game on Friday. It's a great chance for Metzingen to win points back and I think that the handicap margin set today is great material. Details

I don't see much of a change in the month since the last match of these two. Vardar struggle on offense with Penezić and Lekić as easy pickings for the best defense of the Champions League, right back Lazović is not in shape, and the other player there is Klikovac, whom coach Adžić is very familiar with. Right wings also get very little to work with on offense, and Althaus is their only circular attacker and is worn out on defense, making her almost useless on offense, especially sandwiched between Dragana Cvijić, Byzdra and Lazović. I won't waste time talking about Budućnost's defense, but their offense got much better, with wingers becoming more present at the start of the CL this season. Bulatović is missing, true, but she can be replaced on offense by Dalby, a very experienced player who was the first pick for the position last year. I think a bigger issue for Vardar is the absence of Khmyrova and Begona, now Nikolić too, though she plays a bit, while Pineau has been missing for a while, and she makes the perimeter far more creative and wider. The local fans are more of a theatrical variety, so that will not help much. I expect Budućnost to win, but am picking a safer option of them not losing. By the end of the season Vardar might beat them, but are far from that right now. Details

While the margin is under 55 on Skrim's games, it's worth the attentionl Skrim played their last match by the end of the last month, and made the multiple champion run a lot. They conceded 40, and scored 29, in a match that could have ended close to 80 total. Skrim's offenses last 10-15 seconds, they use fast counter attacks all the time, and don't really care about the defense. They're the third team when it comes to conceded goals, they've got the best scorer in the Norwegian championship, Trine Haugstad. Skrim only have one under after eight rounds with this margin.
Storhamar know how to play the defense, but don't know how to control the ball. Their back line is very mobile, and two players are potential candidates for the EP, Betina Riegelhuth and Maja Jacobsen. These two teams played a game a few days before the season beginning, 21-21 on the Vest Fjorden Cup. The match lasted 2x25 minutes, the first part ended with 25 goals, and both teams had one game behind them. They're both fresh now, considering the three weeks long break, and no problems with the players. Details

These two teams will fight with Vakif for the title. But, this season, Vakif won't be such a favorite. Fener still didn't get defeated this season, have 4-0 without a lost set, and they defeated Galata 3-0 in sets. Eczacibasi also have four wins, with five sets lost, but one win was against Vakif, in five sets. It was the first win for them after 13 consecutive defeats against Vakif. Also, Fener lost to Vakif in the Supercup at the beginning of the season 3-0 (20-25,18-25,23-25).
The games these two played against Vakif, and the analysis of the roster are used to base this pick. First, because of max 3 foreigners, Fener have much more problems than Eczacibasi. Fener have six foreigners, five active in the CL this week, and the receiver Kim Yeong is guaranteed a place in the team.A few players will be rotated for the same positions, but in sum, Fener definitely have two Turkish middle blocks. A match against Vakif showed those positions are the weakest link in both these.
Eczacibasi have less worries, with four foreigners, three are almost sure for this match. I can't accept the fact that Eczacibasi, besides crushing Vakif, are put in a certain position in this match, and I believe they can win more than two sets. Especially because they had a day more to rest after the CL game before this match. Details

Both teams changed a lot, but Bursa did some better shopping, and the results already show it. Bešiktaš played four games, got four defeats, with only three sets won. Of those four games, only one was against a big team, Galatasaray, the other three were similar to today's rival. Bursa only played three games - one win and two defeats, both in three sets against teams fighting for the title, Fener and Vakifbank. Bursa's advantage is that they have two foreigners in the team, Ivana Miloš as a middle, and Dušanka Karić for a receiver. Karić's got lots of experience from the French clubs. Only one foreigner is playing for Bešiktaš, Sanja Starović as the opposite. She played in the national team for Serbia till last year. The rest of the team are Turks, but even in that segment, Bursa have the advantage. Their setter is ex-Bešiktaš player, Seda Eyruz, Soroglu is the block, Boz is the opposite, all three played for Fenerbahče so they already work like a team. Pelin Celik is the new setter. What stands out is that the coach rotated all three setters in all three games, he wasn't happy with their efficiency. They've got a combo of an experienced and a young player for the reception and the block, and the complete starting lineup are new players who need time to work like a team. Bursa is partially underestimated, so that's worth taking for the set stake. Details

The odds for the Polish Vistal's win are far from the real and realistic image of these two teams' strength. There's room to take this stake and bet on their win. Details

Vistfal have experience, team play, good individual quality for this competition, and they're playing at home. What they lack is the reputation Zvezda have, both in Russian and European competitions. But this Zvezda isn't close to the one two-three seasons ago. The concept today depend son wing players and the goalie, they don't have creative players in back positions, their pivot is average, and there's no good width from the bench. They lost at least 40% of quality when Vyakhireva left, she covered the right back, the right wing, and even organized the game when the experienced Postnova didn't play. The current individual quality in Zvezda can be shown in the fact that the Russia's coach Trefilov invited only the goalie Basarab for the preparation games for the EC. Vistal's got five current Polish national team players in the team, and they had better results in the last two years than Russian national team did. In the national championship, they've only got one defeat, almost two months ago, and are only one point behind Lublin who played really nice in the Champions League so far. The Polish are quite underestimated in this match, and this is worth taking in today's match. Details

Two best Hungarian teams meeting in Challenge Cup second round. Godollo ready played two Challenge Cup games to beat Post Schwechat from Austria twice. They have the most part of last season's team, with their key players working well together and with the rest of the team. Godollo won all of their 6 championship games, having lost only 2 sets.
Bekescabai are holding position two in the championship with two games more than Godollo. They are on a 6-2 record, with one of the two defeats being the season opener against Godollo (3-1; 16-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-23). The question is, why trust a team that lost?

For a couple of reasons. First of all, Bekescabai had to do that first match without two injured players and with three who were sick before that match. Nagy and Mocsanyi played with a fever, and Mocsanyi had to take over the libero position she's not used to. Even like that, they won the first set and got very close to winning the second one. They're on a streak now, having won the last six matches and have all the players at their disposal, most of which are very good.
Another thing is, Bekescabai are on a much greater budget than other team and want the title this year. If they were able to stand up to Godollo in the season opener with that ailing roster, I don't see a reason for not betting on them at least in the first leg game of their Challenge cup meeting with Godollo. Details

Neither is Minchanka as strong nor Panaxiakos as weak as the odds suggest, and we should use that. Minchancka are on decline in their home league, their last two matches were a 0-3 loss a in the first quarterfinal match of the Belarus Cup against mediocre Brest, and then they won the rematch 3-2 and dropped out. The team changed from last year, they're missing Belarus national team members Palcheuskaya, Sakarabatun, Serbian internationals Jovanović and Gardović, with the 42-year-old setter Galkina making a comeback in the team their advantage is height but not speed.
The Greeks are in third place at home with a 3-1 score after four rounds, and have an experienced Serbian coach Zoran Kovačić in his second season in team and a Serbian setter Kristine Češljar, earlier in Spartak from Subotica and Jedinstvo from Užice. The most important player and one who could make a difference is Bulgarian Gabi Tsvetanova, in great form and leading pointer of the Greek league. They also have a Serbian attacker Milica Jović, a starter in the cadette and junior national teams 5-6 years ago, two Greek national team membersm, libero Kelesidou and receiver Totsidou. They have the roster to be among the top three of the league, and are confirming that so far. I believe they are rather underrated, and that the odds are influenced by the results Minchanka had in previous season's European Cups, but their tam have plenty of weak spots and the away team can use that. Details

The odds are quite off if we take teams' quality into consideration and underestimate the visitors greatly. Olomouc have underwent great changes over the summer, both with regards to players and budget. Nine players left the team in between the seasons, four of them starters. The most important players that left are Jana Napolitano Senkova, Olomouc's most efficient player last season, blocker Tomsenkova, and libero Dreskova. Four players joined from Sokol Sternbek. After four rounds of the Czech championship, they have three wins and three defeats. They beat only three bottom-table clubs.
Zoersel ended as the fifth best team in Belgium last season, and got in the CEV Cup on an invitation. This will be their first European Cup, but regardless of that, don't seem to lack quality or experience. On the contrary, Zeorsel seem to be better than Olomouc when it comes to that. Some of their players have played in Belgian national team youth ranks, and more importantly, their team has not changed significantly since last season. Because of that, Zoersel are more than capable of at least winning one set today. In my opinion, they can do even more that. Details