In many countries around the world, the New Year celebrations are in full swing. However, the athletes are not used to long rest as they play for the spectators. In round 17 of the Euroleague, Barcelona will host Virtus Bologna.
Tournament – Turkish Airlines Euroleague;
Date – 05.01.2023;
Kick-Off – 19:30 UK;
Venue – Palau Blaugrana (7.585);
City – Barcelona, Spain.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #1 – Handicap (-8) for Barcelona – 1.668.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #2 – Total Points Under 158.5 – 1.69.
Bookmaker Ratings: Prediction #3 – Virtus Bologna Points Over 73.5 – 1.90.
Virtus Bologna is looking very poor on the road. They’re more or less successful at home, but their performance away is poor. They won’t be able to put up much of a fight against the favourites.
At home, Barcelona acts rather cautiously. The Catalans don’t rush forward and play the ball to the last minute. Jasikevicius’s side is averaging 73 points at home, so we doubt they’ll score more against Virtus. The 158-point mark is unlikely to be broken.
The Italians have scored more than 73 points in 3 of their last 4 away games.
Barcelona is considered one of the best teams in the Euroleague. The Catalans have been playing at a high level this season. They’ve won 11 of their 16 games, placing them in second place. They have the same number of wins as Baskonia but are behind their compatriots in additional points.
It should be noted that the Blaugranas are particularly successful on home soil. This season, they won 6 of 8 games at home. In the last game, Sarunas Jasikevicius’s wards managed to beat Panathinaikos (74-68).
Barcelona has won 69% of its games of the season.
Virtus has not yet managed to climb out of the bottom of the standings. Sergio Scariolo’s men currently have just seven wins under their belt. That puts them in 13th place. They can’t count on making the playoffs just yet.
The team from Bologna isn’t performing at its best on the road. Outside the hometown, the Italians have lost 6 of their last 8 games. In their last games, they lost to Olympiacos (71-117) and Baskonia (79-90).
Virtus Bologna has lost 56% of its encounters.
In our opinion, the teams will take to the field with the following line-ups:
Barcelona Basquet: Tomáš Satoranský – Nicolás Laprovíttola – Nikola Kalinić – Nikola Mirotić – Mike Tobey.
Virtus Bologna: Nico Mannion – Gabriel Lundberg – Kyle Weems – Tornike Shengelia – Mouhammadou Jaiteh.
The fixture will be played at Palau Blaugrana (7.585) in Barcelona, Spain.
This starting whistle will sound on the 5th of January 2023, at 19:30 UK Time.
We recommend checking out the odds for the Turkish Airlines Euroleague: Barcelona Basquet vs Virtus Bologna at 1xBet.