Angola vs Italy Prediction & Betting Tips - Basketball World Cup

Prediction published on 23/08/2023, 10:14  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 23/08/2023 at 11:15 in Basketball World Cup Predictions

Italy should get a comfortable win over Angola as they begin their 2023 World Basketball Cup campaign. This is a Group A match with the other two countries to play being the Dominican Republic and co-hosts Philippines. Italy are ranked tenth in the world and that's 31 places ahead of their opponents. The Blues finished tenth in the 2019 World Cup but were fifth in the 2020 Summer Olympics (held in 2021 due to the pandemic). They come into this tournament in great form with their last ten matches all being won. Just one of those needed OT and their last loss was to world champions Spain in November of last year. That was a World Cup qualifier and the Italians did get a win over Spain in the reverse fixture. This is only their second match against Angola. The other was in the last World Cup with the Italians running out 92-61 winners.

Angola have it all to do in this match. They have lost their last four matches to Mexico, Jordan, Portugal and Japan. Their last win was over Nigeria in the AfroCan tournament this year. They finished a lowly 27th in the last World Cup and have only once finished in the top ten in eight appearances in the finals. Six of their last seven games has been lost and another defeat is on its way. We go for Italy to win on a -16 points spread.