FIBA EuroBasket 2017: Odds and Betting Preview

There’s a full 10 days of action left at EuroBasket 2017 so it’s a good time to look at recent results and see if we can identify a winner. Played across four countries, we’ve already seen some great entertainment but who is in pole position to take the trophy on September 17?

Team to Beat

Spain have been the most impressive of the nations on show here and after the first round of group matches, the reigning Champions and current Olympic Bronze Medallists are available at best odds of 8/11 with Ladbrokes and Coral for the outright win.

Unbeaten after three games, progress into the next round looks assured but a key indicator to future success will come when the Spanish play Croatia who also have a perfect record after three matches. As yet, however, they have hardly been tested and remember that this is by far the best European side and they rank second only to the USA in global terms.

Chasing Pack

Among those hoping to cause an upset here are France who can be backed at a top price of 17/2 with bet365 in the outright markets. However, the French are just second in Group C following an overtime defeat to lowly Finland. To put that in perspective, although the Finns are one of the hosts of EuroBasket 2017 they are way down at 150/1 in the outright winner markets with Paddy Power.

The third favourites here are Serbia at best odds of 9/1 with bet365 and William Hill. Runners up in 2009, they have also suffered defeat in this tournament, going down by 75 points to 72 to an admittedly strong Russian team.

Therefore, the teams looking to spoil Spain’s party aren’t showing the best results in the opening set of games so who is in form at this point in the tournament?

Unbeaten Teams

After the first three rounds of matches at EuroBasket 2017, four teams had a perfect 100% record going forward. Spain were one of those sides and in the same group, Croatia also had three wins from three.

The Croatians are listed at best odds of 30/1 with 32Red and 888Sport although they are as short as 16/1 elsewhere so some bookies have yet to make up their minds. Clearly that group game with the Spanish will give us a better idea of any title potential.

Russia upset second favourites Serbia and are previous EuroBasket Champions having taken the title back in 2007. All their victories to date have been relatively narrow ones and like Croatia, they are listed at best odds of 30/1 with 32Red and 888Sport.

Completing the quarter of unbeaten sides are Slovenia who are quoted at a top price of 20/1 with William Hill and SportingBet in the outright winner markets. The test here will come against second favourites France who the Slovenians will meet in the final game of Group A.

Next Up

There’s still a long way to go in this tournament with the best four teams in each group progressing to the knockout stage in Istanbul starting on September 9. That round of 16 concludes on the 10th of September and after the quarter finals and semis, it’s on to the final on September 17.

The question, of course, is who will be there?

Predictions

Traditionally, basketball produces few shocks but as we’ve seen already in this group stage, Russia and Finland have already upset the odds to record important wins. However, can we really see past Spain who are so obviously the best team here?

Ranked number two in the world, that best win price of 8/11 with Ladbrokes is only likely to shorten as the tournament develops providing, of course, that they keep winning. If this Spanish squad is upset in any of their remaining group fixtures then it’s worth looking around the markets to see for alternative countries but they are the reigning champions and the most successful European side of the modern era.

Other Markets

If you agree with our theory then you could look to take a small profit on the Spanish or alternatively there is a good choice of side betting for the remainder or EuroBasket 2017. You can still bet on the winners of each individual group although you’ll need to be quick as the opening matches continue on a daily basis.

A smaller set of bookies are also publishing prices for a top three finish where Spain lead the way again at a very short best price of 1/41 with 888Sport. There may be little value in betting on that figure but other options include France and Serbia who are both quoted at 4/5 with 32Red.

Moving through the list, a good value pick for this top three bet could be the impressive Russians who look tempting at their best price of 6/1 with 32Red and 888Sport.

Away from the longer term options you can naturally bet on all of the individual games and there are plenty of those still to play before the final itself on September 17. Within those matches there are side bets too including total points, half time / full time, winning margin and many more.

The action continues across Europe until the knockout stage comes to Turkey and in a short space of time we will have our EuroBasket Champion for 2017. In the meantime there are lots of betting options to be found as the action continues.