These two teams have faced each other several times before. Most recent match up was in July, at Stanković Continental Cup, where the winners were undoubtedly the Argentineans, who won with 22 points to spare (49:71).
Since the first time Nigeria played against Argentina in early 1998, they have not won a match. In fact, they did not even once come close to do so. The “closest” match was in 2012, where the score showed 79:93. So it’s safe to say Argentina is a class above the African squad and with no new huge changes for neither of the squad, the result should be in favour of Argentina once again.
The main problem Nigeria will face is the strong attack of Argentina. Give Argentineans ball 10 times and you will see them score 9 times. The question is, will Nigeria have strong enough defence to stop their opponents?
Previous match for Nigeria ended in a loss against USA (110:66). We could see Nigeria failing to convert their shots into points, only averaging 18 points per quarter. Some may say the case was, their opponents were USA, but when you lose by 44 points, there is no excuse. On the other hand, Argentina played their previous friendly against France (86:79). The match was close, with only 3 points separating the teams by the end of 3rd quarter, but Argentina did not give up their lead and went on to win the match.
VERDICT
The winner is clear in this match, and I would not be surprised if Argentina goes on and win by more than 11 points.
Prediction: Argentina -10.5
Odds: 1.88 Pinnacle
