Round of 16.
Stadium: Arena Stožice.
Ljubljana, Slovenia.
05.09.2022 22:00
After the group tournament, it was strange to see a Japanese central player at the top of the championship's list of the best blockers. It probably won't stay that way for long, as some of Japan's opponents looked poor in that area. The French are not like that.
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The French not only won all three matches in the group but also battered their opponents with their serves. It should not come as a surprise - in the League of Nations, we saw the same picture. They won 6-2 in games against Germany, 8-2 against Slovenia, and 5-3 against Cameroon.
On a different note, Giani's men made 62 serve errors in 11 sets. Moreover, in their games against Germany and Slovenia, French players lost their serve an average of six times per game. Only the Cameroonians were not so lucky. They made 12 errors in three sets.
The French may also be careful in the game with Japan, hoping for their block. However, we don't think that's the way to go - the Japanese team has quite a skilled edge attacker. France will likely have problems if they get comfortable passes from uncomplicated completions.
So we're expecting pressure on the serve and, consequently, a lot of mistakes from France.
Japan
The Japanese, who served so well in the League of Nations, still have not shown anything like that at the World Championships: 3-5 in the first game against Cuba, 4-4 against Brazil, 2-2 against Qatar. Well, 49 faults are almost five on average per game.
Obviously, a minus handicap for France is inevitable. And total serve errors in four sets is theoretically close to 40, and even over 40. Another thing is whether these four sets will take place or not.
Expert Betting Tips
Sets H1 (-2.5) for 2.09 looks very attractive so we take that. Yes, Japan beat both Qatar and Cuba in blocks, but both teams are extremely weak, which, for example, Cuba proved the day before yesterday, losing to Italy on the block 5:12. The Brazilians beat the Japanese on the block with a score of 9:4.
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