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The second meeting between Istomin and Krajicek in three weeks. They played at Indian Wells and Istomin won in straight sets but it was close. There was only one break in the whole match even though the American hit less than 50% of first serves. Krajiced made it to Miami main draw through qualilfying matches. He saved three match point against Mathieu and made a comeback after being a set and a break down to Ymer. Those kind of wins boost players' confidence. Istomin is predictable - his serving is efficient but return not so good. He's far from his top level. Krajicek went over this margin in 9 out of the last 10 matches. The only match that didn't go over was the one against Giraldo and even that one had the first set tie-break. Since he's a tricky player because he's left-handed and has deep drop shots, I expect Istomin to have a tough time again. Details

I don't think the difference in quality is this big in any other first round match. Azarenka is simply more superior when it comes to every segment of the game and she will win for sure. The only question is whether Soler will get a game in this match. She should get 4 at the most, but it's very likely that Azarenka finished at least one set with 6-0 or 6-1. That means the handicap should be good. Since Azarenka beat Wozniacki a bit over a month ago by 8 games, I don't see why Soler, who is much much worse than Wozniacki, should end up differently. Since the difference in quality is really too big, Soler will have to struggle to get any games. Details

Denmark have no official games in March, while the Americans play nothing but test games since the World Cup, trying to find the ideal lineup for the Gold Cup in July. Even though the bookies disagree, logic suggests that this is not a game in which either team have a reason to hold back or play defense-oriented game. On the contrary, both teams should go fierce from the start to try and boost their productivity. The home team are without a few defenders, while the Americans struggle with everything because of the constant reshuffling of he lineup and new players. But they mostly attack all the time, sometimes even when it's not necessary, which results in a lot of goals in their games.
If that is the case tonight, we should see goals and the odds are simply great. Just to a bit more cautious, we will go with the 2-goals over. If the game finished with three or more goals, we're good, and if exactly two are scored, the bet will be void.
The Americans played 7 games after the World Cup and fell short of that only once - against the Czech Republic (1-0). Denmark's last 6 friendly matches finished with more than three goals, one at 2 goals and twice with a 1-0 score. Details

A month after they last met in the championship, Thuringer will play in Leverkusen tonight without some important players (goal keeper Crause, top scorer Nadgornaja, Austrian Frey). Team captain Wohlbold and Huber got back from their national teams games with injuries and didn't participate in training sessions the last few days. Coach Muller said that Wolhold and Huber will be there for the Levekusen match.
Krause will be out for at least 6 weeks, Nadgornaja and Frey for at least 14. Muller is most concerned about the goal keeper position. He is left with only one option for it - the talented Eckerle. Kraus was the key figure in defense and most of the time the driving force on the team.
Coach Volf said Leverkusen will play aggressively against Thuringer. They were on a 4-game winning run in the championship before the break. Two out of the top 5 teams won in Leverkusen this season, and Leverkusen don't have problems with injuries at this point.
Thuringer have enough choice for back positions and Nadgornaja's absence can be made up for. Krause's, on the hand, cannot. That should affect the game and the score of this match. Leverkusen were a tough nut for Thuringen in the previous season as well and given visitors' form now, handicap at home team definitely has value. Details

I expect a battle here, a close game that might as well get decided in the fifth set. The first two matches were settled in three sets and I don't think that can happen here. It's a key game and both teams aim for the semifinals, which was the goal set ahead of the season. They are teams of equal quality, Posdam got better since the first match as the got used to being without Carraro. Cutuk is finally in the lineup after the season-long struggle with an injury. Potsdam did great and stand a chance of reaching the semis like that. It is quite clear that Wiesbaden won't do as badly as last weekend. I think the margin is set pretty low, it's an important game, Potsdam boosted their confidence with the last win and optimism is back on the team. This will not be easy for either team. The last three matches were finished in straight sets, but each streak must come to an end. This one is just unnatural. Details

Even if both teams were complete, Szolnoki would still be my choice. But, now I have even more reason to put my trust in them as Jug won't have Buslje and Obradovic at their disposal. I didn't expect odds over 1.30 at home team and some bookies offer even 1.60. It was later announced that Szolnoki will play without Kiss, but that is not as big a problem as the one Jug has. Szonoki have 10 equally good players and they can make up for the absences, while Jug can't. Obradovic is important both for defense and offense. If Dubrovnik were playing a bad team, things would be different, but they are meeting top-quality Szolnolki away. Their offense is left with a few more-experienced players but the rest of the team is not experienced enough for this level. It seemed like Szolnoki are scoring more easily in the first match while Jug got lucky a few times and they played the best game this season. Without Buslje and Obradovic to help, I think that will not happen today. The Hungarians have the two-goal deficit to make up for because the goal difference might decide the top table spot. I think they are at lead two goals better at the point. Details

There are two rounds left till the end, this match is important result-wise for both teams. Oppsal are after the runnerup spot, which is the goal they set ahead of the season. Nordstrand is at spot 9, one spot above the danger zone but with the same number of points as Halden and Fredrikstad, who are in danger zone. We have their duel from the first part of the season from Oppsala where Nordstrand won by 12 goals. That was the worse defeat Oppsala had this season. Oppsal had it bad before that match, they were in crisis but they're now top form and recorded two wins after the bearable defeat to Larvik. They are complete, five of their players played for Norway national team last weekend, which speaks volumes of their quality. Four of them played for Norway at Golden League in Portugal, while Kurtovic did great in France, and Aune and Mortensen left a great impression in their national team debut. Oppsal are at least one level above Nordstrand quality-wise at the moment. They will also want revenge for the bad first defeat and all in all, the margin seems to be set at least 2 or three goals short. Details

Starting from the very presumption that this match is very important for both teams, the margin still seems to high for a point or two. Zalgiris need the win in order to leave some theoretical chance for the quarter-finals, and Barca will try to take over Real's first place in the group. Further on, Zalgiris are offensively limited, and depend on Anderson's mood (who, by the way, isn't in some perfect shape lately). So it's not surprising they'll be focusing on the defense. How good is it they've shown a lot of times this season, and especially in their home hall where they conceded 69.9 points on average. They left one Real at 68 in their first head-to-head, Nhizny at 63, UNICS at 71... Only Real (88) and Sassari (79) scored somewhat more in the rematches. They have 7 out of 10 unders on this margin. They went over when they conceded more and when they crushed Nhizny. Barca, in writing, has the best defense in Europe, but sometimes they forget to play it. Their coach was furious after the Valencia fiasco where they conceded 93 points, and today I expect them to be strongly on their feet, and feisty. So I don't see this over the set margin. Details

Khimki are excellent in home matches this season. Of course, if we don't count the Russian Cup in which only Russian players are allowed to perform. In front of their fans they crushed mighty teams: UNICS, Lokomotiv and CSKA. In only three matches they didn't cover this handicap. After last season's experiences, Khimki are even more hungry for trophies this season and today they will have a special motive against a team who threw them out of this competition last year. However, Khimki beat them at home with 15, considering that it was even 21 in the minute before the last. This season Khimki are even stronger, more played in, while Valenica are weaker if you ask me. Those weaknesses showed in away matches, and although it's the end of Match, Valenica have no wins outside of their home court, except for the one against Bayern. They've already been to Russia this season, lost with -12 against Lokomotiv. Khimki are at least equally good, they play better in front of their fans, and in this match they don't have the right to fail. In the first match about a week ago they dominated, it should've been with a double-digit difference, but they didn't find their way around Valencia's zone defense. Today there won't be such tactical surprises and quality differences will be visible. Besides, Valencia are without Van Rossom, which is a huge minus for them. This margin doesn't allow any kind of relaxation in the finish, and I expect Khimki's double-digit win. Details

Halden have more motivation to win today. First of all, they need to get back to Lillestrom for the defeat in the first head-to-head. Secondly, the win would mean they are to confirm spot 6 which is very important because in case they finish in spot 7 or 8, their opponents would be either Bodo or OIF. I think Halden will try and win today. They played badly against Drammen last round and coach Wille was very disappointed after that game. They said today will be better and they are, on the whole, always better home. They lost only 3 out of 10 home games - to toughest teams. Elverum and Bodo lost here and I see no reason for LTH to not lose as well. The visitors have given up on fighting, they won only one home game (NIF) and scored very little the last three rounds (15, 16, 18 goals) and I don't think they will go over 20 today. In the battle between a team with best back players in the league that is fighting for a spot in playoffs and the one set to be relegated, the former definitely has the upper hand. I expect the home team to win easily.
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At first sight it seems like an extremely high margin, but Avtodor this season has a very fast, NBA game style. President Rodionov announced that before the season started. In two matches in VTB league under his leadership, Avtodor scored 119 in an away match in Minsk, and 101 in Nymburk a couple of days ago, although they were far from their game in the first half, which was a consequence of a longer break. However, they returned to their gamestyle, with a total of 119 points (60-59 for Nymburk). Avtodor are, on average, at 92.0 points in VTB League, in four matches they already scored 100, and I think they will continue that today. The Bisons can say goodbye to the playoffs when they were defeated in Minsk, and they will also arrive quite relaxed. The injuries took their toll, it was impossible to keep up with playing every two days with only seven players in the team. The main goal is to avoid new injuries, because the important part of the Finnish championship is yet to come, and taught by Minks, they also want to avoid fouls. That should result in a more relaxed defense which will come in handy for Avtodor, and I think the Bisons will concede over 100 points. In the first head-to-head they conceded 89 on their home court, and they conceded well over 90 in the home championship. I expect a very attractive match in which the Bisons will be able to cope if they take the game to higher numbers, but defensively they will hardly limit the home team at 90 or less points. Details

Rodina never should have made it to main draw, to be honest. Scheepers won the first set (bagel) and took a 2-0 lead in the second one and then fell apart completely. She was frustrated by the medical time-out Rodnina asked for at 3-2 for Scheepers and from that moment on, she started making a lot more mistakes and rushing into things. More importantly, Rodina did almost nothing in rallies. Her second service is horrible and someone as good as Watson will take advantage of it. The Brit's game at Indian Wells was brilliant. She beat some great players there, her first serve is good, her shots are good-quality and that is why a lot is expected from her in Miami. The draw is pretty favorable (Kerber and probably Kuznetsova), which is why she needs to take advantage of this. Rodina is the ideal opponent in the first round and I'm sure Watson will, with aggressive return, have enough break point opportunities to win. Details

Pironkova is the copy of last season. Great Sydney edition (6-4 record this year), and the rest is average, if not below that. Indian Wells and Miami never suited her and that's no coincidence. She never passed the second round in Indian Wells, and she played there 10 times. Nothing better goes on in Miami. Nine tries, and only once she reached the third round. It was last year, she beat Voskoboeva who was injured, and Cirste. She lost to Kerber with two games won, and she beat that same Kerber in Sydney the very same year (!). Good, consistent players make it in Indian Wells and Miami. Pironkova is not one, and that was proven by her last defeat on Indian Wells when from the 4-0 lead to the end of the match she won only two games. Kozlova routinely beat both opponents in qualifications, which is usually not the case with young players. Her serve is good, she has a lot of variations in it, a firm game, but also aggressive when it has to be. But her biggest advantage is consistency, which is not the case with Pironkova. Not this year, not last year. Kozlova deserves to be the bigger favorite today. She can stand up to Pironkova in each game segment with no trouble. But, she can also outrun her in those same segments. When we add to it Kozlova's good match rhythm, Pironkova's desperate results on this tournament, then it's logical in which direction this is going. Details