Once again we will try our luck against Arsenal, some sort of cosmic event happened before Vilareal but I think it only strengthens our chances to win here, Emirates Cup is their annual home tournament which Arsenal usually wins and they will also face another La Liga representative, Bilbao club. Arsenal is a stronger team and I think it's necessary to start the season with a good game against PL, Bilbao's preparation is tragic, losing 5 games in a row, also in the second game against Liverpool when they had the upper hand but failed to capitalize on their chances. I believe Arsenal will win 3-1 here.
The exciting Wrexham tale continues, as the team is now in the Championship, but their first opponent here is a team that has been migrating between the Premier League and the Championship. Southampton is definitely a more solid team and I believe they will play better at home than their opponents. The teams had different preparations - Wrexham had an unusual preparation against Australian teams, while Southampton prepared against European teams, some of which are particularly solid. I think this will have a better impact on the first matches for the home team.
Volendam returned to the highest league in the Netherlands and their first opponent is Heerenveen, which is a complete home team. Last season, they earned 36 points at home and only 7 points away, an unbelievable difference. Both teams had friendly results, which may not be positive, but Heerenveen is definitely a stronger team. Both teams have a good attacking game, but Volendam struggled with their defense even in the Eredivisie.
Napoli, a solid team for me, did good work in the summer, including signing with De Bruyne, who can become a crucial figure in this team of stars. Napoli is known for its strong defense and I believe that should be the key against Peru. Girona, after a fantastic season, returns to a more average role, but at times it seems that their achievements are not quite enough for them to match Peru.
Italians are already playing 3 friendly games, so the preparation intensifies and both team play and shooting have to improve. Latvians will play their first friendly game, so it may be difficult but realistic to expect a lot from them, as the brothers play an attacking basketball and score a lot of points. The free-flowing Banchi basketball and the high-level Latvians with Porzingis in sight, I believe, will be productive against the Italians who are also able to adapt to this type of basketball.
Another overseas match. Taipeja team, just like New Zealand, won both games in the battle for the top spot in the group. In their two games, New Zealand played with a similar strategy, while Taipeja team is also known for their strong offense, as shown by their combined total of 182 points with Philippines. Both teams play a similar style of basketball, and New Zealand can always be trusted, as their team is composed mainly of local league players who are skilled at both attacking and defending.
The Bulgarians do not have their only basketball player Vezenkov, who did not play in the first group matches 3 days ago, so I do not believe he will play here either. The Dutch looked quite good and have 2 NBA Summer League players who belong to NBA teams, unlike anyone who can boast about it. The Australians, led by an NBA player, looked quite good at home and are significantly better than the Bulgarians, who do not have their captain and without him the team is practically worthless.
The champion of Finland plays against the complete underdog of this season. KuPS hasn't been dominating the league as expected this season and is also struggling in European competitions, but against a team like KTP they must have enough to secure a win. The Finland champion looks good and their odds are quite attractive from KuPS's perspective, who previously crushed these opponents 3-0 at home.
Austria's Salzburg is fighting on two fronts, and it's not an easy task. Salzburg is playing at home and there should be goals in the story, as their opponent is also a productive team. In the first match, Grazer played a 2-2 draw with Austria Vienna, who is a serious club, and Salzburg also played with the same result against Ried. The essence is simple - the Austrian championship is productive and these teams are no exception. And when the favorites sweat in the Champions League qualifiers, I think we can expect surprises and clear goals.
Liquid, somewhat randomly, managed to defeat Ecstatic, but against a more serious team they would have lost in such a match. After the demise of team Liquid, they suffered losses even against academy teams, not to mention tougher opponents. FURIA has settled in to some extent, their young form is good. FURIA has already beaten opponents of similar strength or even stronger ones.
Currently, with the renewed lineup, the heroic team is struggling because they recently benched their new AWPer, who hadn't had enough time to warm up. Now the stand-in is playing as the academy team's AWPer. They managed to defeat the struggling Complexity team, but now they are facing a much stronger opponent. Aurora is not at their best yet, but with the return of their better player Xantares, they hope to defeat the dry FQ team.