FIVB World Championship. Play-off. Round of 16
Serbia vs Argentina
Arena Gliwice (Gliwice)
06.09.2022 18.30 (UTC+3)
Argentina has defeated Serbia more than once, but never at the World Championship. Three meetings – three losses, only two successful sets. Perhaps now is the best time to take on the titled Olympics rival in earnest.
Team Serbia
The Serbs won all three matches in their group, all of them in three sets . On the other hand, there wasn't a game where Igor Kolakovic's men didn't put up a fight on the balance sheet. Even with Puerto Rico, they played a set with a score of 26-24. And with Tunisia, it was 29-27. Interestingly, all three big scores came in the opening games. Then everything went much easier for the Serbian players.
The Serbian national team outplayed all their opponents on the serve, even Ukraine. 21 aces in nine sets is not bad at all, which means that Atanasijevic and others averaged more than two aces per set. Never less than two, there were exactly six aces in three sets against Tunisia.
Serbia defeated Puerto Rico and Tunisia 9-2 and 10-8 on blocks, but lost to Ukraine 4-7.
As for the service errors, the Serbs were smooth – 31 in nine sets. The maximum number of SE was four times per set in the match with Ukraine.
Team Argentina
The Argentines played as many sets in the group as they could theoretically do, 15. I don't even know what kind of physical shape they're in now after three five-sets in a row. Plus eight out of 15 sets had to be played up to a big or thrashing score. The most interesting was the match against Iran, with three out of five sets played on the balance.
In those 15 sets, Argentina put up 32 blocks, made 17 aces, and committed 85 service errors. They average a little over two blocks, one aces, and five and a half service errors per game. I don't even know what to take - everything is so good.
I'm starting to see a minus handicap for Serbia in terms of aces, and a similar handicap for Argentina in service errors. The approximate equality on the blocks is the most obscure position.
Expert Betting Tips
So, the Serbs are better at serving and, at the same time, better at holding their serve. Argentina, in turn, plays only marathon matches. Why not play another one? Bookmakers do not offer many interesting options, but let's see what we have now:
– Points Total Over (179.5) for 1.89;
– Total Sets 5 for 3.50.