MUNICH (Germany) - An intriguing opening week of the EuroLeague Women season has given everyone plenty of food for thought heading into Gameday 2.
The second gameday of the First Round features six games on Wednesday, October 21, followed by two more on Thursday, October 22.
There will be more opportunities for underdogs to surprise in the wake of Kibirkstis-TOKS making everyone sit up and take notice in their opener. They head to Basket Landes this time in what is shaping up to be a highly entertaining matchup.
Kibirkstis left Athinaikos Qualco trailing last week and the Greek team must try and bounce back at home to Casademont Zaragoza in what could be one of the games to watch.
Check out our expert's predictions below and don't forget to make your own picks in the EuroLeague Women Game Predictor for a chance to win some fantastic prizes.
Schedule
You can watch EuroLeague Women games through each team's local broadcast partners and on our official YouTube channel.
Play & Win
Expert Picks
This season we're once again calling on the one-two punch of FIBA's global women's basketball specialist Paul Nilsen and EuroLeague Women lead commentator Mark Mills for their predictions.
This week it's Mark who has his first outing of the campaign with his Gameday 2 predictions.
Game | Expert Pick |
|---|---|
ZVVZ USK Praha (16-20) | |
Fenerbahce Tarfin (20+) | |
Casademont Zaragoza (6-10) | |
Basket Landes (6-10) | |
Valencia Basket Club (16-20) | |
Emlak Konut (6-10) | |
Beretta Famila Schio (16-20) | |
Galatasaray Cagdas Faktoring (20+) |
Safe Pick 🔒
Fenerbahce Tarfin made a strong start to their title defense with an impressive road win over Valencia on Gameday 1, and I don't see them stumbling in Romania this week. For CS Rapid Bucuresti, adapting to this level of competition will take time, and facing the reigning champions in just their second game is a huge ask.
The visitors have the depth, experience and individual quality to overwhelm their opponents, and I expect them to make that superiority count. I see the Turkish side coming away with a comfortable win.
50/50 🪙
Kibirkstis-TOKS pulled off an impressive upset on Gameday 1, and I think we need to start taking this team seriously. They look to have a group packed with players who relish the underdog tag and have something to prove. This makes them an intriguing proposition this season. However, their opponents are Basket Landes, and I really should know better than to make confident predictions about their games by now. They are a thoroughly unpredictable team. Playing in France, with that fantastic home crowd behind them could prove decisive, but I expect this one to be close. I am leaning towards Landes, although I would not be surprised to see Kibirkstis make another statement.
Wildcard 🃏
My wildcard this week sees me backing one of the teams that came through the Qualifiers to beat a team that reached the Final Six last season. Emlak Konut have assembled a tough domestic core and added a little extra quality in all the right places. They could cause some of the established names real headaches this season. This is not a slight on Tango Bourges Basket, who have the pedigree and experience to make life difficult for anyone. It reflects excitement for Emlak Konut and what they might be capable of this season. They have the potential to be one of the more interesting stories and I am backing them to deliver an upset win.
FIBA