Pini Gershon’s Reds have hit a rough spot lately, dropping back-to-back games at Prokom and Zalgiris and then losing another game in the Greek League. However Olympacos, which has been hit hard by injuries this season, hopes to have Arvydas Macijauskas back this week, which would make a world of difference for the Reds. Also in Olympiacos’s favor is the fact that it’s undefeated at home this season. Montepaschi has won three in a row to shoot up to second in the standings, despite dealing with some injuries of its own and retooling its roster.

Now with Ksistof Lavrinovic back and newcomers Hector Romero and Keith McLeod having meshed with the team, Montepaschi is as strong as ever. But for this game they will miss Romain Sato (was injured in last game vs Fortitudo) and this is another blow for them. Ksistof is not showing spectacular form and McLeod can't find his place in this team. So I would not say that Siena currently is as strong as ever. I would say they are unpredictable as never before.

With Macijauskas back into the roster Oly should become more dangerous in offense but it is still uknown about Macas' form. Also there are some rumours that Gershon could be fired soon but such rumours already were heard last season but Pinnie knows how to work under press. The problem is that Oly was looking awful in last few games and I am not sure about their face in today's match.

Prediction: I expect this game to be very hard for both teams because both are not in optimal form, and psychological factor can become the most important factor here. It's very hard to win in Pireus and this is the only reason why I predict Oly's to win today but this game could be a 50/50 at its certain moments.

Betfair trading tip: I doubt that odds will fall before the game so only in-play trading pick could be possible scenario here. Currently Betfair have following odds 1.45-3.05. I expect Montepaschi to stay in the game during whole game and if Oly would not make killing run in the first minutes odds on Montepaschi should drop down to 2.3-2.6 quite fast.

Third place in Group A will be up for grabs when Tau Ceramica hosts Zalgiris Kaunas on Wednesday at the Fernando Buesa Arena in Vitoria, Spain. Both teams enter the game with 8-5 records and tied for third, but the final shape of Group A is yet to take place. Tau could even advance as high as second in the group if it wins and Montepaschi loses its game at Olympiacos. In that case, it would wrap up a second seed in the upcoming Top 16 draw. Tau cannot slip beyond fourth place and could not be lower than a third seed at the draw. Meanwhile Zalgiris can’t finish any better than third place, but would also become a second seed for the draw if AXA FC Barcelona was to lose its regular season finale on Thursday. However Zalgiris could also slip as low as fifth place and a fourth-level seed if it loses and Olympiacos wins.

8.5-9 pts handicap looks like a fair one but I will risk medium-low stake on TAU to cover it. Zalgiris never was an away team especially against top teams. TAU should control all aspects of this game because they have deeper roster and Grigas will be forced to find an answer how to stop spanish power forwards, centers and guards at the same time. At home TAU is unbeatable team in Euroleague and after good game vs Fuenlabrada this weekend they should be good prepared mentally as well as phisically because starters played less minutes than usual.

Zalgiris won 6 of last 7 games and this is a main reason why we don't see more common -12.5 handicap today on TAU. Also Zalgiris managed to beat them at home. But let's be honest - Zalgiris was lucky to meet weak opponents like Prokom, Olimpija, Virtus and stronger opponents (TAU and Oly) at their weakest form. Top-16 phase will show the said true about Zalgiris and Top-16 may start for them today with loss in Spain. Where they always were playing very bad: -21 in 2006, and -39 in 2005.

Prediction: TAU will start strong and will build an early lead and will hold it until final whistle. I expect TAU to win with 11-16 points margin.

The two teams on the opposite ends of the Group C standings meet to close out the regular season on Wednesday when Virtus VidiVici hosts CSKA Moscow in Bologna, Italy. CSKA, boasting an 11-2 record, has already wrapped up first place in the group and a top seed in the Top 16 draw, while Virtus, at 2-11, cannot advance on to the next stage. The game sees CSKA head coach Ettore Messina return to the team that he achieved his first great successes with. In two stints with Virtus between 1989 and 2002, Messina led Virtus to two Euroleague crowns and three Italian championships. CSKA big man David Andersen was also on Messina’s 2001 championship side at Virtus. The game figures to see both had coaches give extended playing time to reserves in a game that is essentially for protocol only.

I don't like such type of games where nothing is decided. But I think that this game could go under155.5 because Virtus should accept CSKA playing style. Virtus in last 5 games allowed his opponents to score more than 20 points per quarter only in 3 of 20 quarters and this is good sign of defensive improvement. CSKA also is not showing anything spectucalar in offense but hold its opponents under 70 points in every game. My statistycal analysis predicts Virtus to score in the 61-69 range while CSKA should score in the 73-80 range. Fair line for such estimation should be 65-76.5 with total only 141.5 points. If this game would be important for these teams I would definetely pick UNDER155.5 here but because this game means nothing for both I indentify this pick only as a "TV-bet".

Prediction: CSKA should control this game but maybe in the beginning of the match Virtus will find a way to stay close with them. CSKA will do a killing run in the 2nd half and win this game by 8-13 points.

Predicted score: Virtus Bologna 68 - 79 CSKA