Well, I don't know, Mouz is such a strange team, their players are really unreliable and often make a lot of mistakes, but from time to time they manage to defeat stronger teams. Yandex is not a bad team, they have some good players and their results are decent at the moment. I don't know, I don't like Mouz team, I find it strange that they are doing so well, so I'm trying to go with a more reliable team in my opinion.
Anadolu Efes, despite having an average of 79.3 points, has recently been playing very productively, especially at home. For example: 107 points against Valencia, 95 against Bursaspor.
In the Euroleague, they typically allow around 84.7 points.
Žalgiris' statistics: they score an average of 88.8 points and allow 82.9 points.
Based on statistics and the teams' recent matches, the line seems easily beatable.
Real, like Dubai, has been struggling a lot against the opponents lately. Musa, a former player of Real, will not lack additional motivation here. He likes to take initiative and can be selfish. But essentially, he is a scorer against whom it will be difficult for Real to defend.
Last week, these tennis players played in the Challenger tournament. Today's meeting, the ATP and a higher level player must bring a better game. The ranking, I believe, does not lie here. Even though Kovacevic was considered the favorite in the last match, today he is considered an underdog. Nothing has really changed in a week, Kovacevic probably only had a warm-up over, and beating the same player twice in such a short time is much more difficult. I think the American will have drawn conclusions and realized what went wrong in the last match.
Last week these tennis players were playing only in a Challenger tournament. Today, in the ATP meeting, the higher level player should bring a better game. I believe that the ranking does not lie here, and although Kovacevic was considered the favorite in the last match, he is now seen as the underdog?? Nothing has really changed in a week, Kovacevic probably just had an overheat, and it is much more difficult to beat the same opponent twice in such a short time. I think the American will have made conclusions and realized what he did wrong in the last match.
Hapoel without Bryant won't play. 3 pitiful losses in a row. Micic received another injury. Bryant has a chance to perform today, but after being out for over two weeks, it's unclear what form he will be in and his minutes may be limited. Valencia's form has dropped, but their style of play remains the same, their losses are more related to poor shooting. I think today they should just focus on playing Itoudis, whose days are numbered.
No matter how bad Panathinaikos look lately, Partizan is not even at the level of Euroleague team. They play extremely poorly at home, there is no support. They don't even gather enough people to go to Štark, because there are no fans. This season is no longer interesting for either the players or the "fans". Pao must surely straighten things out after such a fiasco.
Kartal plays steadily without major ups and downs, so today I am expecting dry conditions in Peru. Yesterday, Kartal showed its true strength against Zarazua, losing only 7 points in the whole match and earning a second victory in this tournament. It shouldn't be a hindrance here either, as a smaller serve won't stop Kartal from attacking right away and returning the first serves. Let's see how many times they will break the opponent's serve - it will be interesting to watch.
Tauson Clara, 23-year-old Danish player, is showing strong gameplay here in Ghana, working well with her head and delivering powerful shots. Plus, she only has one head-to-head loss, so I think she should definitely take this, especially since she is in full condition at this first stage.
Kessler McCartney, 26-year-old representative from the USA, is known for her persistent gameplay in Ghana, she moves well around the court, but lacks some strength. She usually manages to hold on in the first set or set and a half, but then her performance drops, with more errors occurring.
Kartal Sonay, 24, is showing stable tennis in Ghana, able to compete against and outplay other strong female tennis players. She has a better serve and overall power.
On the other hand, 20-year-old Czech player Bejlek Sara is overperforming in this tournament, managing to defeat unstable opponents during her peak periods. She mainly plays on clay courts and rarely on hard courts.
Cirstea Sorana-Mihaela, a local 35-year-old veteran, shows quite stable tennis, adapts well to different situations, works well with her head, knows what tactics to use and also receives strong support from Romanian fans. On the other side, Potapova Anastasia, a 24-year-old Russian who recently changed her citizenship, has a similar playing style, but is known for her inconsistent performance, making both beautiful shots and careless mistakes. Additionally, she often struggles with her serve, resulting in double faults. She also seems to struggle under pressure from the home crowd. In the first rounds, she had a tough time against weaker opponents, playing through three sets in both matches against Bronzetti and Zakharova.
One of the strongest Euroleague home teams and collecting a lot of points at home, Dubai welcomes another highly successful team in terms of offense. Real scored as much as 200 points against Dubai at home, so we can expect a high-scoring game here as well. Dubai plays very well on the offense and doesn't overdo it on defense, so I expect a lot of points here.
According to the standings, Efes does not fall behind Zalgiris, and in my opinion, it is even a better team. They play at home, crushed Valencia, and I think Zalgiris will once again have a dazzling offense, with a stronger defense than Monaco had and we will see a rematch. Goss is back, but he is not giving much help to the team and it is doubtful if there will be any help from him at all. I hope for a tough fight, but I would not be surprised even if Efes easily defeats.