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One can clearly see that Bologna have underestimate their next opponent and that they don't have too much motivation for this competition. After all, Pioli will rest his firs 11 except Sorensen who was suspended from the upcoming Serie A game. This means their main players like midfield maestros Diamanti and Kone, or hard-working DM Diego Perezo, and center-backs Antonsson and Natali, their first keeper Curci, and "prima punta" Bianchi will watch this game from the stands as Pioli decided to spare them. Siena are not a bad team, which is confirmed in the Serie B this season; they did unexpectedly well in the Cup last season and they are definitely underrated here. Details

A derby is not an easy bet usually, but this pick is so obvious I'll just briefly sum up the things I already said in the preview. This is a match between the next to last (Energia) and the last (Chomutov) team of the league. That very fact shows how important this game is for both of the teams. Neither of them can afford to lose, as for the home team this would mean Chomutov would come to within three points from them, and for the away team losing would mean falling 9 points behind their competitor for staying in the league. I expect an extremely careful match, with both teams waiting for the opponent's mistake. In their last seven games, Energia have stayed below this margin in six, while Chomutov did the same in four of their last five, showing progress on defense lately. This is due to the arrival of goalkeeper Ruzicka, whose average stats are worsened by high defeats vs Vitkovice (3-8) and Hradec (0-4), but in the other three matches he played, he performed very well and was reliable. The first match of these two teams ended up with four goals, the second with six. Today however, as I already stated in the preview's closing, we will hardly be seeing a hockey fairytale, this will more likely be a tough, hard, defense oriented game. Details

Avellino have been playing great football this season and they are deservedly at the top of Serie B. They are particularly good at their Parteni which has become their fortress from which their opponents rarely go undefeated. According to their coach Rastelli, this is their most important game of this season as it can provide them with a historic game against Juventus, they have no injury problems and are facing a team that they fought against in the Lega Pro - Frosinone. This is a team whose form has been on a downward spiral lately and who are not looking particularly well in away games. In addition, they have some injury problems and it would be a huge surprise if Avellino don't reach the round of 16 in the Coppa. Details

Celje postponed the game that was supposed to be played on Saturday on account of 14 of their players going down with a rota virus. The illness is slowly becoming a thing of the past, but the situation is far from ideal. The players are still feeling the consequences, some of them have not fully recovered yet, and some will surely be physically drained when they step out to the pitch. Domzale are not shining, they lost three games in a row, but they scored three goals in their last game vs Maribor, which is a big step forward for them. They are not doing badly in Celje, as they've been undefeated in their last four games there, and the last game between these two opponents in Domzale ended with a clean 4-0 win for the home team. Their roster is in full strength and they can definitely end the black streak in Petrol Arena. Details

Both teams are going into this game in a slightly worse atmosphere than usual, having suffered unusual defeats in their last game. The Kings were beaten by the decimated Calgary at home, while the Blues were defeated away by the strong Sharks team by a huge 6-3 result. However, these are too very good teams with great defense (the 3rd and the 2nd best defense in the West, 6th and 5th in the league), that have great goalies and rigid defensive approaches. The Kings have 5 consecutive unders for this margin and 8 in 10 (1 void). The Blues have a slightly different situation as they have had some overs lately, but it's mostly at home when they crush their opponents as usual. However, they have only 1 over in the last 5 games (vs. Sharks) and 2 unders and 2 voids. In the last 10 games, they have 3 unders and 3 voids for 5 goals while in the last 5 games they have 2 unders and voids for that margin. Both teams also have great goalies - the Kings have Ben Scrivens as currently one of the best goalies in the league with over 94 % saves in only 14 games (their first goalie Quick is injured). The Blues have great Elliott and Halak who have been the best duo in the past few seasons (award in 2012). They lead these teams and concede 1.5 goals per game (Scrivens) or 2 (Halak, Elliot). In addition, no team will want to risk the second defeat in a row and we are facing a tough play-off game. When it comes to play-offs, these teams did great in it as they played against each other last year in the first round. The Kings won then by 4-2 in the series, and three games from this series ended in 2-1, one ended in 1-0, and one ended in 3-2 after over-time, while only one game ended in 4-3 after 60 minutes, that is, in an over for this margin. Details

The Wizards have extended John Wall's contract during the summer thus showing their faith that he can lead the team to the play-offs and judging by his performances so far, one can say this wasn't money down the drain. He ended 4 out of last 6 games over this margin (37, 31, 31, 26) and only 2 under (19- Bucs, 8 - Pacers). Bradley Beal's injury made him the absolute first offensive option and the only game in which he had less than 18 shots was against the defensively oriented Pacers (14). Magic are pretty shaky in defense, and since they are at the top of the league in terms of turnovers (17,3), I believe Wall will get the most of his points from transition which is the best aspect of his game. All in all, I see home closer to 25 than 15 tonight. Details

Siena are now the second-best defense in the league with 71,4 points. Pistoia score 75 on average, but this is not a realistic description as they scored a lot in the first 3 rounds as most of the other teams were still disorganized. Today they are facing a tough one, 40 minutes against Siena's aggressive defense, much like the one employed by Reggiana and Milano and they scored 56 and 55 against them. They scored 65 against Cremona, the team with one of the worse defenses in the league, while I won't bother commenting the 79 against Pesara in regular time as they are the absolute worst defense in the league. Siena can't seem to find their offensive solutions lately, they are often around some 70 points and when Hacckett does not have a great day, they usually struggle. They have no real point guard that can organize a good attack and Hacckett spends much time on this position. Since they have an important European game against Stelmet coming up in three days, I don't believe Crespi will force him today. Siena will try to win this through defense and since Pistoia only have 4 players that can go beyond 10 points, and they can match Siena in physical game, I don't see this going over 150 Details

Today, we are expecting a huge battle for every point. This is the philosophy of both teams and considering this is a derby and that both teams have 3-5 score, I don't think this will be a beauty. Roanne's games end in 134 points on average while ASVEL's games end is somewhat higher figures, but they are regularly low-scoring affairs against defensively-minded teams (Olimpija 64-56 and 48-86, Nancy 59-60, Gravelines 69-64). Vincent was very angry at their approach in Ljubljana and he will be at the top today. We should see real guerrilla warfare here and a game with a maximum of 135-140 points. Details

Ryan Matthews left the field last Sunday due to injury and he hasn't returned since. He had his first training session on Friday so I don't think he will be 100 % ready and he is facing one of the best defenses in the league with a great front line. After missing last three games, Rey Mauluga is coming back for the Bengals as one of the best middle linebackers. The Chargers use Matthews only on first two downs and rarely in the end zone which is reflected in only 3 TD?s. Danny Woodhead spends a lot of time either behind or next to Philip Rivers and his versatility might be more useful than Matthews's vertical penetration. Since he is not completely ready, I don't think they will have more than some 15 carries which should not be enough to go over this margin. Details

I base this bet on the both teams' great defenses, more than anything else, and the fact that both teams played really difficult games yesterday, so now they're having a difficult back-to-back match. In yesterday's game, Bozen overpowered the strong and uncomfortable Znojmo at home, and Znojmo are the fourth best guest of the league. The result was 3-2, which means under 5.5. Viena kicked Innsbruck with 7-3, but it was an away game for a team that have been in a miserable shape lately. Innsbruck lost seven out of ten last games. So, chances that Vienna will repeat the game against Austria today, against the league's second best team, Bozen, are equal to zero. Also, Bozen have three consecutive wins, and are in a great shape, unlike the weak Innsbruck. They also have the third best defense of the league, right behind Vienna who have the best defense of the league since the beginning of EBEL, and the Red Bull. Also, Viena are complete, but tired from the last game, and from the trip to Bozen. But, two consecutive games in only 24 hours are never easy to play, especially not away, and especially not against the best team of the league, even if you are complete. Bozen have two absences in the starting team, and forwards, Marco Insamo and Sharp, both in top-six forwards. Bozen had an under in the last three games, while Vienna only had two in the last six games, since they came back from the national team break. But, this is their first back-to-back game, and against the strong opponent, like the Italians. So far, they went to over against weak teams like Innsbruck and Dornbirn, Znojmo and Linz and Graz, where they went over the margin with only one goal. Both teams' assets are their defenses, both teams play back-to-back, and both their goalies are among the best ones in the league with over 90% saves, Zaba is 3rd, and Hubl 10th. Details

Caserta obviously have a crisis of results, they're in a row of five defeats, but they had real chances for winning in four games. Everythings starts with the defense with them, and that's all they talked about before today's game, and were mentioning clever game in the offense. It all leads to conclusion that today, we'll be seeing war with positions, like many times so far in Caserta's games. They never conceded over 81 points so far, and their matches ended with 149, 177 (overtime), 158, 135, 131, 146, 134 points. Even tough Montegranaro love faster basketball, coach Recalcati announced that they shouldn't rely on runs against Caserta today, because it might be lethal for them. This game means a lot for Caserta, and I believe they'll calm it down and try to win using defense. Details

It's hard to find any element that would be a plus for the guests in this match. Tarnobrzeg are the last team of the Polish league, and they look really bad defensively. Their whole game is based on the inspiration of a few Americans whose basketball style reminds us of the street basketball. They brought in the new-old coach Szczubial, but he could hardly change anything on such short notice. They concede 84 points per game. Stelmet score 90 points per game at home. Recently, Tarnobrzeg scored 59 in Sopot, and lost with 28 points difference. Before that it was -21 against Turow at home. -16 against Asseco. Even against the weak Polpharma, who only managed to get one win before they faced them, recently in the cup, they conceded 97 points and lost with 18 difference. Home team have the best offense in the league, and the guests don't feel like playing defense, so it's hard to expect a game where defensive basketball will dominate. Tarnobrzeg force the run-and-gun game with pretty short offenses, and that's the kind of basketball Stelmet loves. Details

First of all, KAC and Graz are fighting for the seventh spot, the one below the play-off spot and the importance of this game is huge. Klagenfurt have been desperately trying to show that they want to get into top 6 and so have Graz who have been in the upper echelons of the league and who are only 2 points away from sixth-placed Znojmo. Graz and KAC are only a point apart and several other facts speak in favour of this under 5.5. As far as KAC goes, they went under 5.5 in their last 3 games even though one was before the international break which is no longer relevant. But it is relevant that they will be without 2 of their best strikers Lundmark and Siklenka who have been suspended. In addition, their defense has been doing great while their offense is poor and injury-plagued. On the other hand, Graz are currently in a poor form with 3 defeats in a row. Their defense is still one of the best in the league, but 99ers are probably the only team in the league to have two goalies who are among the best in the EBEL league - Stefanszin and Sabourin and it's irrelevant which goalie plays. They are not in a great offensive form, and they scored 1, 3, 4, 1 goals in their last several games. In the last ound against against Bozen, a team similar to KAC, they went under 5.5 and they have 4 such unders in last 5 games. In addition, these teams have played two games this season, both times going under 5.5 as KAC won by 3-0 at home while Graz won by 1-0 in a game before that. The 99ers are also missing their best offensive player Lemieux, while Coulombe is also in doubt and KAC have Rene Swette between the sticks, the best keeper in Austria and a member of their national team that belongs to top tier goalies in EBEL, like Stefanszin and Sabourin. The odds over 2 for this bet with most bookmakers seems too much for me and you can find the best odds in William Hill, Expekt and Nordicbet. Details

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This will be a game dominated by defense, muscles and lots of physical contacts. This is the way these teams are built. They won't risk much in offense as both teams are strong from the counters, Melsunger with Sellin and Allendorf, Löwen with Groetzki and Gensheimer and every mistake will be costly. Their head-to-heads have been under 50 lately, as was the case in pre-season and I see no reason why it shouldn't be the case today. Details

Mikkel Hansen's absence is a huge handicap for Paris. Today's game s one of the crucial games for round 2 and both teams have to win this or they might be in huge problems. Paris have had many trouble on both away games in Skopje, scoring 24 and 26 goals and even though they have improved since, the absence of Hansen and Bojinović is a massive handicap. Minsk have shown they know how to play a good game at with strong defense at home. The only exception are the games against Barcelona when they shipped 35, but even then they scored more goals in the second half when the tension was gone. Today, this should not be be the case and we should see a real fight until the very end as this Paris will have a walk in the park in Minsk. Minsk limited Thun to 20 points, Skopje to 24 and I believe the importance of this game will motivate both teams to focus on defense. The first game ended at 34-30 for Paris with a crazy second half (22-19). I see today's game as the first half of that game when the score was 12-11 after 30 minutes. Details

There are several reasons why I chose Fener to crush this game apart. First, they conceded over 90 points against Banvit and Barca and they suffered heavy defeats so I don't have any doubts Obradović will want to see his players react, all the more so as they have important away games at CSKA and Galatasaray next week. The other reason is Selcuk and his defense that no one can rely on. They lost by 22 points against Galata at home, and by 22 against Banvit, conceding 91 and 100 points, respectively. I think they are in for something similar tonight. Details

As much as I try to find a reason against this bet, I can't seem to find any. The numbers suggest that the football fans should avoid watching this game. Bochum have given up on attacks that they used to practice and have closed down their penalty box in the past 4 round. I expect them to do so today against Munchen who have scored only 4 goals in 8 away games and are extremely inefficient in home games as well. It's hard to believe they will go crazy in a place where they have never won before. In addition, their coach Funkel emphasized that their goal is to avoid defeat which means they won't rush into offense as usual, and they've already shown that they know how to defend. One can expect a trench war here without too many clear-cut chances. In a game in which both sides will probably not score more than a goal, an under is a self-explanatory. Details

Unicaja is lead by the defensively-minded Plaza but they way they have been playing this season has been impressive. They had a 10-15 difference with 5 minutes to go and Calloway and Dragič ran into each counter as if the game had only started. They have been fully dedicated in defense and they run when they get the chance. Considering that Canaris are an extremely offensively-oriented team that take many 3-point shots, this will give Unicaja additional running space. I expect an open game, attractive for the fans, and I will try an over. Unicaja over 81 is another good option. Details

Odds offered for Magnitogorsk's win are, in my opinion, influenced too much by their last away games. Magnitka lost all three games in the away games tour, but everyone knows they're a team that play well at home, and show a lot more convincing games there. Magnitogorsk had time to get ready and rest since Tuesday. They only lost two out of 20 games at home this season, one in regular time against the powerful SKA. Right now, they have a row of four home celebrations, and in those four, they only conceded three goals. Barys are in front of Magnitka when it comes to standings, but after the national team break, that team lost five out of eight games they played. The Kazakhstanians only managed to defeat Slovan in the regular time, in two instances. Everyone knows that Barys depend on their offense, and are not on that level defensively. They usually have a lot of issues against the defensively stronger teams, like Magnitogorsk. For example, they lost two times in the last two weeks with the goal difference being 3 against the defensively oriented CSKA, and they didn't manage to overpower Magnitogorsk in the last two seasons. Last year, Barys lost 1-5 and 3-5 against the opponent they face today, and 0-4 in the preseason in Magnitogorsk, but also in the first championship match this season, in their own arena (1-2), when Magnitka dominated more than the result would suggest. Details