Stadium: Saitama Super Arena.
The reigning European champions suffered a painful defeat in the second round by losing to Spain by 15 points. Will Serbia be able to vindicate themselves in the match against South Korea? Let's choose several options for betting.
South Korea failed
The Korean team played outstandingly in the first two rounds, defending well and moving the ball on the offense intelligently. But in the end they didn't get the expected result: their opponent's level, which is certainly higher, made a difference. In the first match Koreans lost only by 4 points to Spain - 69-73. In the second period they yielded to Canada 53-74 and had to give up 11 points in the fourth quarter. Now in order to keep their chances of making the playoffs the Koreans must defeat the Serbian national team.
Serbia gave the Spaniards a chance in the Olympics
The Serbs were the team that kept Spain out of the 2022 World Cup. Yes, formally it was the Russian team that defeated the Spaniards in the final. But this match would not have been played if Spain had beaten Serbia in the quarterfinals. It was clear that the Spanish team wanted to get revenge by any means in a face-to-face game of the Olympics. At Eurobasket the result was decided in overtime, this time Spain literally crushed the opponent in regulation time - 85-70.
Of course, nothing catastrophic happened for the Serbian national team. In the first round, the Serbs beat Canada, so now they only need to beat South Korea to guarantee a spot in the playoffs . It's even good that such a failure occurred in the group stage.
Expert betting tips
The Serbian can not make any mistakes after losing to Spain. Now the Serbs will have to beat South Korea. However, this is unlikely to be a problem. Moreover, the Koreans won't be able to keep points handicap. The Serbs can be devastating for their opponent. Our prediction is that Serbia will win and reach the Olympic playoffs.
Betting options:
- Victory for Serbia with a handicap (-19.5) at odds around 1.90;
- Serbia's individual total over 81.5 for about 1.85;
- Serbia to win for 1.01.