2024 Paris Olympics Odds, Picks & Predictions: Friday (8/9)
Who has the advantage when France and Spain meet each other in the men's soccer gold medal match? Will the Belgian women's basketball team be able to keep their Cinderella run alive against France? And will we see much scoring in the Denmark vs. Slovenia handball match?
Here are the three best bets for August 9 at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Friday’s Best Olympic Bets
Men's Soccer: France vs. Spain Draw (+205)
These are two evenly matched teams, which is why the draw is such a tempting bet. The French are favored to win in their home country, but they're probably overvalued because of their presumed homefield advantage. France had no problem with Egypt, but it's not like the Egyptian team was so good that anyone was expecting France to struggle in the first place.
Spain can win this match, and if this game were being played in a neutral country, a draw would likely be the favored three-way result. Look for both teams to feel each other out early, as opportunities are few and far between. The game will open up in the second half, and if one team scores, we expect an answer from the other shortly after.
Women's Basketball: Belgium vs. France Over 144.5 Points (-110)
France should have no trouble winning this game. It's shocking to see Belgium in the semi-finals. Few would argue against them being the worst team remaining in the tournament. But it's hard to ignore how good they looked in their win over Spain.
Meanwhile, the French have certainly benefitted from some relatively easy matchups to this point. Yes, they beat Germany handily, but they've looked far from unbeatable at this tournament. While the French defense has allowed just 54 points in two of their games, we believe Belgium will find a way to at least get into the low 70s in this matchup. After all, the team has scored 74+ points in three of their four games, including against the United States. France will want to outscore Belgium. That works in Belgium's favor and makes the over the right play.
Men's Handball: Denmark vs. Slovenia Under 58.5 Goals (-120)
This number is just simply too high. Both teams scored more than 30 goals in the quarter-finals, but that was far from the norm in the Group Stage. Despite finishing second in Group A, Slovenia scored the fewest goals in the group, netting just 140 while allowing 142. Meanwhile, Denmark led all teams with 165 goals, but they also only allowed 133.
Slovenia will struggle to score over 25 in this match. If they end at that exact number, Denmark will need to score more than 33 goals for this to go over. While they could hit that number, it's more likely they struggle a bit against one of the better defensive teams in the tournament.
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.