At the opening of the Azerbaijani championship, we have a match between Lokomotiv and Telecom, who are former Rabita, a team that dominated Azerbaijan over the last years. The balance of powers has shifted this season, Telecom cut their budget five fold. Their players are young, inexperienced and not too good. That was confirmed at the start of the Champions League when they lost at home against Wroclaw in straight sets by 23 points. In my quality scale, Telecom are the fourth team in Azerbaijan, and Lokomotiv are top favorites to win the title. Lokomotiv are not weaker than Wroclaw. But hardly and any Telecom player could be in Lokomotiv's starting lineup. They also started Champions League with a defeat, but against Dinamo at Kazan. They won a set, and the three they lost were tight. Lokomotiv are better in all positions, and that especially refers to the opposite and libero. They have Castillo and Havlickova there, players that create difference against teams stronger than Telecom.
My choice here are Dresden; compared to last season they changed far less and even then they were better than Schwerin. Honestly, I expected Dresden at 1,60-1,65 today. It's offered at a lot higher rate, and the reason for that is Schwerin's home court, but also their three wins so far. The ones against VCO Berlin and Hamburg were expected, and the referees helped them a bit against Stuttgart. That match could have gone differently, Stuttgart are not at even 70% of what they were last season, so I wouldn't take that win as a serious one. Schwerin are good for now, but my impression is that they're weaker than they were last year, and they didn't have an opponent as serious as Dresden who they're hosting today.
I think this is a 50-50 match. Schwerin are overrated based on their last seasons, Stuttgart made less changes and I agree with their coach, they're stronger than they were last year. Their bench is a bit long, the starting lineup is just as good. Miyashiro is out today, but her substitute, Robinson, is a good libero. To sum up, Stuttgart have the same quality as last year, when they beat Schwerin in four of five matches. Their only defeat was in the fifth set, and if that happens today, this will be a winning bet.
Schwerin lost Sloetjes who lead Netherlands to the silver medal at the recent European Championship. They lost Belien in the block, Weihenmaier at the reception, the setter Nenova was replaced by Hanke. They might be stronger there, evened out at the reception, but block and the opposite will be weaker than last year. The Canadian Love, their opposite, isn't as good as Sloetjes. She was substituting Brakočević in Azeryol last season, and didn't play that much. The German Völker plays the libero, and Schwerin will be weaker in that segment than Stuttgart today.
I don't want to miss these great odd on Serbia winning the gold. Many reasons, the most important one being the recently finished World Cup where Serbia played great. They only lost to China, in a match where the opponents were already on their knees. The Serbians didn't know how to hit the final blow, and then they relaxed, and beat Japan, USA, Russia, and got placed to the Olympics as the first European team. Beating Russia, who are the first favorite according to the bookmakers, is another reason for this bet. Serbia feel no pressure after getting to the Olympics, unlike the Russians who will try to get there through the qualifications in January. That means the Serbians' mental state is much better than the Russian. I have info that the Serbian coach Terzić let his players rest after the success in Japan, and they're coming to Netherlands fresh, but also greatly motivated to get the title again, the one they won four years ago. Compared to the last two years, Serbia are better with the young Bošković as the opposite, the block is better with Stevanović and Rašić. The Setter Ognjenović is playing like she did in her best days again, and Mihajlović grew to be one of the world's best receivers/hitters. Ščerban is questionable for Russia, and that's all I'd say about the Russians.
We will not give up. Porec are the favorites we know that, but we'll do our best to get the two points. Congrats to Porec for the EHF Cup win but we'll do what ever it takes to win today.
Buzet almost always do well home. They lost to Porec away last season 26-20, meaning they want to get back at them. Porec's coach prefers to have a good defense first. His former team Karlovac averaged 49 goals per game last season. Porec will try and win the opening match through defense, especially while Mataija is still out. The first game against Maccabi finished at 38 goals, the other one in which they fought for the next round at 50.
Both Serbia and China are hoping to secure a spot in the Olympics at this World Cup. Both teams are very good - China proved it at Grand Prix, Serbia not so much because they didn't play with the best lineup all the time. In the end, they tanked the so that they wouldn't have to play the final. The reason for it was their wish to get here in an ideal shape, which means Serbia will be better here than in any other game this year. China also sacrificed the Grand Prix for this. They lost team captain Hui Ruoqi, which is a problem but not for this bet. Without her, this will definitely be a closer game.