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Barcelona vs Zenit St. Petersburg: Prediction and Betting Tips
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Barcelona need to improve their game
The regular season winners Barcelona didn’t expect such fierce opposition from eight placed Zenit as the Russian side imposed themselves in the series and forced a fifth and decisive match. Coach Jasikevicius’s team averages almost 80 points per season but they were held to just 61 points in game four, their lowest score for the season in all competition.
If we look at Barca’s stats in the fourth game, they sure will like to forget that match quickly. The Blaugrana shot just 21.4% from the arc (4 of 19 made), and 47.5% from two points distance (19 of 40 made). They showed one of their worst rebounding displays this season with 26 total rebounds to their opponent’s 40. Coach Jasikevicius will have to improve his offense and ball circulation as they had 12 assists in the game well below their season average of 18 per game.
Zenit St. Petersburg may cause a major upset
Zenit will be hopeful of a repeat of their first game win in the series. They lost the second game in overtime after yet another very close game in the Palau Blaugrana. Zenit will be confident that they have been very competitive in this series and have not made it easy for their opponents.
Zenit are sixth in the Euroleague in terms of true shooting percentage with 50.41%. Kevin Pangos has been on top form in the series. The Canadian was the top scorer in three of the four matches in the series averaging 18.5 points in four matches. He is also averaging 6.5 assists per game.
Coach Xavi Pascual must be credited as well. The former Barcelona coach is using all his knowledge of the Spanish side to the benefit of his team. The Zenit boss will urge his team to be courageous and play with the same intensity as they did in the fourth game.
Key Stats
- No match in these series has had a total of 160 points
- Barcelona have scored an average of 74 points in this series and 79.89 in the season
- Zenit have scored an average of 74.5 points in this series and 78.11 in the season
Barcelona vs Zenit Saint Petersburg Prediction
Apart from the fourth game where Zenit won comfortably by 13 points, this series has been a close contest and we think it will be another nail-biting one in game five. It shows how little is the difference in level between the Euroleague teams as three of the four Quarter-Final matches are gone to a decisive fifth match.
Barcelona have more firepower in their squad and more experience but coach Xavi Pascual’s experience is also something to take into consideration as well.
We will back Barcelona to score over 74.5 points in this match. For our second prediction,
we are backing under 37.5 total points in the first quarter.
Barcelona vs Zenit Saint Petersburg Betting Tips
Barcelona to score over 74.5 total match points 1.90 at bet365
Under 37.5 total 1st quarter points 1.86 at bet 365
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