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Gentile is the crucial offense option of Milano, next to Langford, and it's clear he'll take a lot of balls. He scored 19 against Efes in Istanbul, even though they've lost with 20 points difference. He played 30 minutes. He played a lot less in the championship, and still went over the today's margin. These 11,5 are too low, and I think one of the best Italian Eurobasket players will go over it. Details

It's completely clear Milano didn't start the season as expected. They're a team full of strong individuals, but lack the team play at the moment. Backcourt Jerrells-Langford-Aradori is powerful offensively, but without a good flow of the ball, they lose quality because everything comes down to man-to-man game. Injuries messed up Milano badly, they lost Kangur for at least a month, and Gigli also got injured, so they don't have a real player under the basket except for Samuels. Melli and Chotti don't have the quality, and C.J.Wallace is not in a good shape, and doesn't do much on the offense, so we could see Moss on that position. He's only 193cm tall, though. Now they're facing an extremely uncomfortable defense by Zalgiris. The experienced Javtokas and Jankunkas dominate under the basket, and Milano will have a lot of trouble there. Lipkevicius will be tasked with guarding Langford, who proved to be the home team's most dangerous player. Jasikevicius will go to Jerrells and make the already difficult ball pass even harder. Considering this is one of the key games for any ambitions, and the only way for Zalgiris to come close to the win is with rhythm control and the jump, it's hard to see Milano over the given margin. Details

Dimitrov won his first ATP title last week, and he demolished Stepanek here. The experienced Czech complained of fatigue and cold last week, he had three successful indoor weeks and I believe he came to Basel drained. Dolgopolov is defending a lot of points this week, which means he is motivated. He played a good first round match, which is often key for him. I don't see why Dimitrov is suddenly such a favorite? He won Stockholm last week, but he was a strong favorite in every match until the finale and he was completely out of form before Sweden. The Ukrainian is a player of outbursts and I believe he can win a set. I wouldn't be surprised if they were a lot of oscillation, so I don't recommend the handicap. Anyway, he is underestimated here and he should at least win a set. To those braver, I recommend the Ukrainian's win. Details

Dynamo from Kazan have much more games behind them this season than Volero, and they play much better as a team. Volero changed almost whole starting lineup for this season. Some very good players have arrived, but Dynamo, who have several best players in the world on their squad, have more quality. The Russian champion didn't make a lot of changes compared to last year. Volero played well in the World club Championship, but I wouldn't glorify their win against Chinese Guangdong, who played their first game of the season with new players on the squad. Things sat in their place in the third place match in which the same Guangdong defeated Volero 3-1. I would say that Dynamo are stronger than Guangdong, while Volero will be weakened in comparison to that game. Without Osmokrovic, the Swiss champion is much weaker on the reception, and whoever gets the chance to replace her today, cannot play on the same level. Dynamo are coming to this away game rested and fully prepared. I believe that they will not repeat the mistake from last season when they suffered a surprising defeat in the first round of the Champions League in Germany against Schweriner. They need a safe win here, because of the good atmosphere and confidence ahead of the big derby of the Russian championship which is on Sunday. They will be playing an away game against, besides them, the only undefeated team, Omsk, with whom they share the first place. There are enough reasons here to trust the team from Kazan, my tip here is a win which will bring them three points at the start of the Champions League. Details

Belgian Genk are in top form, both in their national championship and in Euroleague.Today they have a great chance to settle the issue of getting through the group after only three rounds, which will then enable them to turn their attention to the championship and further advance in ranking there. Rapid Vienna, a team with lots of ups and downs this season, are in their way. They are in constant trouble this season, conceding naive goals and getting injuries of their main players. Those details might be a big strength for Genk, who are unforgiving in their own stadium lately, and Rapid will hardly be an exception.
The home team will surely be in the offensive mood, trying to quickly score and break through the solid bunker of the Vienna team. Should they manage to succeed, they will have a much easier job in the rest of the game. Genk are technically a better team than Rapid, all their midfielders and forwards are individually strong on the offense, while with Burgstaller and the long injured Alar missing for Rapid the only creative force remaining is 34-year-old captain Hofmann. That would not suffice to parry Genk even in a home game, let alone away. This match smells like Genk dominating, with Rapid trying to defend and score from fast counterattacks. However, with all the weaknesses the Vienna team defense have displayed this year, the home team have a much better chance of achieving their goals and reaching a third consecutive victory that will verify their superiority in this group. Details

It is more a question for a sports psychologist, but for some reason Baghdatis plays his best tennis against the best players. This is probably because he is under no pressure to win, and relaxes, and then he is a Top 20 player for sure. He has a long match history vs Del Potro. In their five official matches he was left without a set only once, and even then they played two extended sets, so he has the game. The Argentinian did not impress yesterday, he needs more time to adjust, and this is a new chance for the Cypriot. I'll be going for a set this time, not the handicap, as I believe he will win a set. In case the match goes to three sets, who knows how he will react if he wastes a chance to win once again. Details

A bet on the Budvanska Rivijera is an obvious choice after reading the preview. Budva gathered the Montenegrian representation, plus the Italian Falaschi, and they seem to be a good quality team on paper. You can't say the same for the Czech. They lost some key players last season, and the substitutions are not nearly as good, because it's ridiculous to expect the former players from an average Extraleague team decide the Champions League matches. Coach Reljic finally has a team that plays well together, with a bunch of games with the same line-up, and Falaschi is too good of a setter to not find the connection with the hitters by now. The Budvan's flaw is the fact that they didn't play a single competition game in the season, but they're far better in quality than Jihostroj team. The Czech barely managed to win against the miserable Benatky in the national championship, and that's their realistic strength in this season. If they only had two games before today's match, the bet would go for a higher stake. This way, I'd go for a middle stake with the home team winning with at least two sets over. A clear win is even better for the combo. Details

Janowicz is not playing convincingly. He has been having problems with his shoulder for a while now and I doubt he would play if he weren't in a difficult situation. Next week he will be defending 625 points and every win is important for him. If the situation was different, I believe he wouldn't be playing because he can't finish a match without physio's help before and after the match. Sousa has 10 ATP indoor wins this season even though he has a reputation of a clay player. He plays safely, he isn't afraid of stronger names which he demonstrated on several occasions in the last months. This was covered by Carreno-Busta in the first round, who is far more prominent clay player than the Portuguese. Since I wouldn't be surprised if the Pole lost today, I think this +3,5 is a very good bet. Details

Though this is not suggested by their first and only match so far, I am going to bet on no breaks in the first set. Karlovic beat Berdych without winning a break point. The conditions here are much faster than in Moscow, the ball stays lower, which makes him struggle on the return. In Moscow the ball bounced higher, the surface was slower, and he had more time to attack. Pospisil is an aggressive player who will mostly look for fast points on the return. This is usually not a a good combination in a match like this one. He has a good serve, he often plays tie-breakers and knows who he's against. He will undoubtedly hold his serve as well, and wait for his chance. In these conditions I expected much worse odds on a no-break first set. For those who do not have access to WillHill, bets such as a tie-break in the first set or over 12.5 games offer a solid alternative. Details