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Lyon put together a respectable team ahead of this season, the Italian coach Prandia took over and no one saw a battle to stay in the league coming. They are, however, in the last position eight rounds before the end, time is running out, and they need to start getting some points. Truth be told, they have started with that, having won two out of the last three games, but they lost to Toulouse easily in the last round. They are meeting Chaumon, who are in the sixth position, away today. Chaumon haven't been doing great lately. They lost four out of the last five championship games. Only Montpellier are currently doing worse than them in France. One might say they are the best possible opponent for Lyon right now. As I already said, the home team have quite a respectable team. Bulgaria's Nikolov and Slaparov, Germany's Tischer and Van Lankvelt are all valuable players. Relegation would affect their market value - it's high time they pulled themselves together and got out of the danger zone. Chaumont managed to beat team in their first international game pretty easily, but Lyon were in a worse form then, and Chaumon in a better one. Nikolov is much better prepared today, compared to that game, and Lyon can now count on the aforementioned Van Lankvelt. An important player from Cameroon, Wounembaina, will miss the game for Chaumont. The most important reason I'm opting for Lyon here is that Chaumont are doing really badly away. They managed to win only one out of the last 9 away games. If I add that Lyon are meeting Beauvais, who are in position 4, next round, and who haven't lost home once this season, it becomes clear just how important this game is for Lyon. Details

I'll keep this short - I think Eczacibasi are a better team than Omsk, when it comes both to individual and team quality. They have the experience of playing the Champions League and games as important as this one. Besides, they are a more organized team, only one or two players from their line up change every year. I don't think the conditions in Siberia will cause them much trouble. Omsk are playing home, but I wouldn't say that's much of an advantage. They're not invincible home, they've proved it in the last month against Rabit and Uralock. Those teams are no better than Eczacibasi today. Omsk's game is in decline, at least according to their performances in the Russian Cup final games. Eczacibai played against Vakifbank, the top team in the world, and lost after 5 sets. Judging by their January games, the form is good, they have more options to choose from than Omsk in each segment. I believe that if they manage to neutralize Omsk's service, the win will be within their reach. Especially because Omsk play a pretty straightforward offense - almost everything depends of Carrillo and Mammadova's efficiency. Details

Hamburg are the last in the league, with no wins and only 2 points from 12 games. Kopenicker are last but one with 6 points from 11 games, and their only win was against Hamburg, at home in October. Kopelnicker celebrated 3-0 in that match (25-20, 25-15, 25-20), pretty convincingly. I believe the guests are more likely to win today.
This season is a nightmare for Hamburg, first of all because of the coach Von Soosten whose coaching skill is pretty questionable and it's a miracle he hasn't been fired yet. Perhaps because of his ties with the club president. Nothing else can justify his bad results. Besides being without a win in the championship, Hamburg surprisingly fell out of the Challenge Cup in Porec. They'll be under a lot of pressure today. The Dutch Gravesteijn left recently for no obvious reason. The best player Brinkmann is not in her best shape because she was sick for some time, and the receiver Ammerman's also questionable because of the sickness. The first setter Gogic joined the team in the middle of the season, so Hamburg player's are not really working well together. They use a weird tactic, and not a very successful one, lately - starting their matches with three blocks. Kopenicker are coming complete, and they look like a lot more serious team. They took one point in the match against the league leader, Wiesbaden, and they had two weeks to get ready for this derby. Nothing points out to Hamburg winning here, the home court will only make it harder for them, I think. Everything over 1,65 on Kopenicker is worth playing, mostly because Hamburg look like an average second league club at the moment. Details

The margin seems pretty low here and it's much more realistic to see a 180-something game than 170. Sopot are in pretty good form and can get at least a set here. The Poles are announcing a sensation here, I would even say they are living and breathing for this one. They've boosted their confidence with wins over Biesko Biala and Wroclaw last week so they are calm ahead of this game in which the Turks are the favorites. That Sopot can take a set against anyone was visible in the home game against Vakifbanka who had not lost match for a year and a half before that. That's a much stronger team than Eczacibasi. The visitors are coming here after a surprising defeat against Besiktas. They didn't play well and if they do the same today, they will not come out as winners. I expect them to have many problems with Sopot's block and I don't really see them as sure winners as the odds would have it. The over for this margin that can be found on the market certainly has a value as Sopot getting a set pays a lot less and this margin will be covered with a normal four-set game. Details

Uralochka played a great game against Omsk on Wednesday, they beat the second-place team in the league and now have an away game against the leading team. The announcements of the legendary Karpolj that his team will play much better in the second part of the season have come true. The famous expert has done a great job preparing the team for a month. Very few errors, great block, easy conversion in offense against Omsk say that Uralochka have gotten into their groove and will be a dangerous opponent for anyone in the league. They're not a bad team, after all, they have three Russian national team players, Cuban Ruiz and their biggest asset - coach Karpolj. Dynamo Kazan were not too great on Wednesday as they barely won the first set against Ufimochka and that team is much worse than Uralochka, especially without their best player Zakreuskaya, who didn't play against Dynamo. Dynamo's coach said that his team is out of form and that they were not on the level from the first part of the season. In my opinion, Uralochka can at least get a set here and they do traditionally well against Dynamo Kazan and have played 5-set games in the past 2 years. I base my optimism on great performance of Uralochka against Omsk as they played two great sets in that game and we only need one great set for this bet to go through. Details

Bielsko Biala can get a set here as they are a solid team. Sopot have been without half of their team and it should be felt today and I believe they have enough quality to get a set here. I say that as my choice here is an over. The margin is low enough to go through in a normal four-set game and we shouldn't be too interested in the winner here. Sopot's win has no value and it should be avoided. This is a traditionally difficult away game for Sopot and they won the game here last year after 5 sets while they had been defeated by 3-0 in 2 games prior to that one. I believe this won't be the case today as Bielsko Biala are weaker than in the season in which they beat Sopot. Medium stake for a bet that Bielsko Biala will take a set is available with some online bookmakers and seems like an excellent choice but pays less than over. I would also recommend the bet available on bet365 that Bielsko Biala will get over 83,5 points but that will not be our choice as it is not widely available. Details

I expect this to be an interesting game, a game between two high quality teams. Poland's individuals are very good, but the problem is, they haven't been playing together for quite a while, unlike Belgium. Winning the bronze medal at the last European Championship was no accident, Belgium are really good. It seems like this will be a tied game, which should not be settled after three sets. Poland will have the fan support, but that would also put pressure on them. I wouldn't be surprised if they play even the fifth set, that would get both teams to the World Championship. The margin for the final point number is quite low, and I think off by some 3 or 4 points, which is why I'll take over at a middle-sized stake. Details

There are a lot of absent players on both sides, and that is the main reason I don't believe the Czech Republic will win easily, even though they are regarded as a great favorite for the win here. I believe that Belarus can win a set in this game, but I will choose the safe version of the bet - the point handicap. The margin is quite high, and it seems like a better choice than the bet with points over and Belarus winning a set, even though that's a good choice as well, with smaller stake. Both teams are weakened, Belarus a bit more, but the Czech Republic are missing a few important players as well. Belarus have the upper hand because they prepared longer, they've spent one week longer together. Belarus played one game more, and their advantage is the fact they don't have any pressure regarding this game, unlike the Czech Republic. Details

It seems this could be an interesting game - both teams have had quite good performances at the European Championship. France even managed to reach the quarter final, while the Netherlands reached the Round of 16. Both teams did a ten-day preparation period for this qualification, France played two good games against Bulgaria, they lost both, but won a set in both. They played away, unlike the Dutch, who hosted the European Championship bronze medalist Belgium, winning twice and losing once. That is the very team that knocked France out of the EC in the quarter final after a great five-set-battle. Neither teams are lacking optimism ahead of this game, both have great expectations, and they both arrived in Rovinj with basically the same teams that played the EC. I don't think the difference in quality is as big as the bookmakers see it, I believe France can definitely win a set here. Over, therefore, seems like the best choice here, because the margin is pretty low, everything up to 177,5 on a medium stake is doable. Details

There will be no doubts about the winner here, Belgium will get their first three points in Lodz. I think and I believe the EC bronze team will get it fast and easy. Spain have rejuvenated their squad and will use this tournament to gather some experience. They are much weaker in comparison to the EC, and they didn't do too well there, either. They didn't get a single set in there games and were defeated by 28 points against Germany, Turkey and by 27 against the Netherlands. Belgium is no weaker than those teams and the Spaniards have brought a weaker squad to Lodz than they brought to the EC. There cannot and will not be any relaxation among the Belgians as two convincing wins against Spain and Switzerland will take them to the World Cup even if they lost the last game against Poland. This is one of the easiest groups and it is expected the team with six points and a good points difference a good set difference will got to the WC will as one of the two best-placed teams in these qualifications. Margins for theunder or the handicap here seem like a total miss as I expected a margin of at least 24,5 (handicap) and a total number of points of 127,5. It is all playable and my tip here is the win for Belgium in points handicap available in the market. Details

I will go for Beziers here. Their win pays off well and their have much higher chances than offered by the bookmakers. They are playing at home and they will want to say farewell to the Champions League with a win, that's for sure. Beziers still don't have a win in their debut and they came the closest to winning against their opponent for today. They had a chance to take the game in Germany to the fifth set but they gambled away their lead near the end of the fourth set. Their last game against Rabita was their best European game this season and if they repeat that performance today, Dresden will have some problems. Beziers' advantage is that they had a week to prepare for this game as they are going on a break afterwards. The French team should be relaxed as they have no imperative here. Dresden are coming to this away game shaken up by their defeat in the cup semi-finals against Vilbiburg. They lost that game by 3-0 and their fans booed them afterwards as they were disappointed by their performance. The psychological state of their team is not the best at the moment and in a game between two games of equal quality, I will put my trust into Beziers as they will need the support from the fans to go for their historic first win in the Champions League. Details

Igtisadchi will be without four Thailand national team players. All four have been in their first squad throughout the season and this will certainly be felt in the Azerbaijani team's performance which will not be as fluent as in the last round against Crvena Zvezda whom they beat by 3-0 in Belgrade. Since then, the Serbian team has improved their form and Igtisadchi have deteriorated. If the Belgrade team could have gotten a set against teams stronger than Igtisadchi - Piacenza once and Dynamo Moscow twice - there is no need they shouldn't do so today. Especially due to mentioned absent players for Igtisadchi who lost a set against the last-placed team in their league (Telecom) last weekend. For me, there are enough reasons for this game not to end in 3 sets and I will see this bet through and since the odds for Crveza Zvezda getting a set are dropping, an over seems to have more value. Details

Muszyna are currently the sixth, with one game less, Legionovia are the seventh in the Orlen League, which is more tied than ever this season. The first game of these teams where Legionovia were the home team ended after a big battle in the fifth set, 15-10 for Muszyna. Today, the same line-ups will be on the field, none of the two changed significantly since then for better or for worse, and I really don't see a reason for Muszyna being made such a big favorite here. I wouldn't bet on their win with these odds even with someone else's money, Legionovia can take at least one set here. At least they're a good team with a few well-known players, who didn't show their best this entire season, except when they defeated the great Wroclaw. They showed against the leading team of the championship, Chemik, in the away game three weeks ago, that they can win a set against everyone. In ten games this season, they didn't win one set only twice. Muszyna, on the other hand, won 3-0 only against Bydgoszcz. Because of the European commitments, they didn't have as much time to prepare as Legionovia did. I don't see this game solved in three sets for anyone, over 160,5 seems to be the best choice here, tin my opinion, because Legionovia's set is paid a bit lower. Details

Olympiakos have lost their first game by 3-0 but were on the brink of winning two sets. They had 23-22 in the first and Biala won by 25-23. They had a set-point at 24-23 and Biala won that one by 27-25. This was an even math that the Polish team won in 3 sets due to errors by the Greek players. It is a reason enough to believe Olympiacos will be able to take a set, something which they didn't but, but could have done in Greece. They are a good team that dealt with Paris without too many problems in the first round. The defeat against Bielsko-Biala is their only one this season, they have several experience foreigners in their ranks, I would even say they have more experience than Bielsko-Biala. Their coach says they are coming here not only to fight for an honorable defeat but to try to surprise the opponents. The first game will motivate Olympiacos as they were really unlucky to lose that game. They had an easy game in their league on Saturday so they had enough time to prepare for this return fixture. This was not the case for the hosts who re on the road non-stop and they had an away game against Lodz on Monday that they won after 5 sets and they wasted more energy in such a long game. I don't believe they will win by 3-0 here. In 13 games this season, they managed to do so on 4 occasions, including the one in Greece last week. In my opinion, Olympiacos have a much higher chance of taking a set here than the bookmakers suggest. Finally, Olympiacos's setter was in doubt for the first game due to injury, she did play but was not completely ready, but their coach said ahead of this game that all players that are in the team are ready and willing. Details

Haifa are my choice here - their 3-0, or 3-1 win. They are quite a good team, a few Israel's internationals and a few foreign players (not very famous ones) make up the team. They've started their European campaign in CEV Cup, they got knocked out by Muszyna from Poland, but the overall impression was good, they even won a set in the first game. I think they are a better and more experienced team than Godollo. They have every right to believe they can reach this historical European win home. Godollo are a team who are playing Middle European League, they've recorded seven defeats in seven games. They are a young team, with Szakamary and Csengeri from the Hungarian national team being their best known players. They were both on the team that won the game against Israel last October after a big five set battle. Csengeri played that game, but Szakamar didn't. Three of Haifa's players were in that game as well - Gluck, Kolnogorova, and Rodriguez. I'm writing this for the sake of comparison, with the foreigners in their team, Haifa can stand up to that Hungarian national team. Godollo are not as strong, because the rest of their team are young players, and as I already mentioned, they have no foreign players. We can draw a comparison based on Muszyna's games against Post. The Polish team played them in the CEV Cup recently, and won both times without losing a single set. I'm saying it because Haifa put up a better fight to Muszyni than Post, who beat Godollo easily in the Middle European League. All of that makes Haifa's win home an excellent choice - I'll take their 3-0 or 3-1 win, which would enable them to reach the next round if they win two sets in Hungary. Details

I will trust Lodz today as they are in form, playing at home and are more rested and therefore better prepared for this game. The Lodz players have improved since the start of the season and have won last 4 out of 5 games so I would say they are going into this game in better form. At the start of the season, they suffered a narrow defeat against Bielsko-Biala but unlike in that game, their captain Pycia will play today. They started winning as she returned to the squad. Bielsko Biala had an away game in Greece in the middle of last week and they couldn't focus on this game like Lodz did. Even though I believe a win by Lodz has a certain value, I will go for a safer option, that is, Lodz winning at least two sets. They did that in an away game against Bielsko Biala at the start of the season and I don't see any reason why they should be able to do that today. Details

Prostejov beat Schwerin with some difficulty last week and even though they are playing away they should be able to win again. They are much more experienced, they are better as a team and are in better form. Their coach believes his players will win and so shall I. Their game is more diverse and they should go into this game better rested than Schwerin that struggled and lost against Postdam in a 5-set game last weekend. This game was also played at home and it showed their old problems as Schwerin's players made many mistakes while neither Aulenbrock nor can replace injured Hippe. Unlike Schwerin last week, Prostejov traveled here by plane and this shows just how important this game is for them. Even though the odds for an away win here are dropping, they are still worth taking for a moderate stake. Details

Olomouc are in great shape and have gathered momentum, while also having a solid team. I see no reason why they would not get at least a set in this away game. Azerrail are not that powerful, they are a favorite as they are coming from Azerbaijan, but the team are mostly local players. It was clear that they were not that strong in the first round, when they struggled a lot vs Partizan Vizura. That was a team on par with Olomouc, yet they managed to take a set in each of the matches. The team from Azerbaijan played only two official games since then, which will be a handicap for them today. One gets into form by playing games, and Azerrail haven't played enough of them. They were beaten 3-0 vs Lokomotivain the championship last weekend, which is not a good preview for today. The away team have a decent chance, if they do not enter the match with too much respect, to win at least a set. In female volleyball, where the game has a lot of ups and downs, this is quite possible. There is a certain value to this bet, and I'll play it with a smaller stake. Details

There isn't a lot to think about for this prediction, it simply has to be played. Two strong teams are meeting, the strongest ones in Russia besides Omsk, I'd say. Dynamo Kazan take the role of the big favorite here because of their shape, but if the Moscow's namesake play like they can, this won't be a one way street. The margin for over is quite low, I'd say, both of the championship duels last season went over that, as well as both games in the Champions League. Dynamo Kazan were more convincing in the play-off finals, they handled three out of four games in three sets, which means under. I'd say that Dynamo Moscow look stronger this season than the last, with Koshelev in the team, so I expect at least four sets here, and that should take this match to over for this low margin. Details

Proton seem like a better team. Alisheva is in good form, receivers Kozlova and Molosai also seem good. Irisova's absence is not felt as Belenkova's doing a great job leading the block. Proton had a level game against Dynamo Krasnodar and this is a team much better than Tyumen. This Dynamo from Krasnodar beat Tyumen without too much trouble in an away game before the break. Tyumen's coach himself is not satisfied with his team and this means that they are in worse form than when they hosted Krasnodar. They have some injury problems and even if Bruntseva and Newcombe play, their form is dubious. The lack of games lately has been a problem for Tyumen. Proton don't have these problems, they used the break well, they had great preparations in Poland where they completely outclassed their first-league teams Bielsko Biala and Muszyna. A win by the home team has a value and I will go for it with a smaller stake. A much safer bet is the set handicap +1.5 for Proton. Details