GKS Katowice - ONICO Warszawa predictions and free betting tips [19/01/2024]

Today in the PlusLiga volleyball league. The GKS Katowice team is set to host ONICO Warszawa at home. Although the hosts have been improving, they just can't seem to climb higher than the 14th place in the league table, while the club from the capital is currently 3rd, having just started the year in the leading position. 

GKS Katowice

The team from southern Poland has been playing quite quality volleyball, trying to win key matches. Out of their past five games in the PlusLiga, Grzegorz Slava's boys have only lost once. However, such a string of victories had no impact on the tournament standing of "GKS Katowice". 

The single misstep in this short series was a trip to Lubin, where the local "Luk" didn't allow their guests from the south to win even a set on their court. In the previous round, "GKS Katowice" played well against "Gdańsk", and I had predicted that Grzegorz Slava's volleyball players wouldn't be able to impose their game on an adversary from the group of main playoff contenders. 

The lineup of "GKS Katowice" is quite strong. Lukasz Vasina proved effective in the game against "Gdańsk", despite suggestions that he would miss this away match. Davide Saitta worked hard in defence, and in attack, Jakub Jaros acted excellently, racking up points thanks to deft strikes through the block. 

The "GKS Katowice" team need to aim to score any available points for the table, trying to move away from the outsiders' zone. With the club from Warsaw, they will have to work hard in defence. The block must be as productive as never before, otherwise the "Project's" attack will be successful.

ONICO Warszawa

It seems that the volleyball players from Warsaw do not lose all that often, yet they still sit in the 3rd place in the PlusLiga table, with Resovia Rzeszow right behind them, which ONICO lost to in the last round at their home arena.

In contrast, everything is going splendidly for Piotr Graban's team in the Challenge Cup. Project Warszawa made it to the semi-finals of the third most significant Eurocup, by defeating Bucharest's "Steaua" with an aggregate score of (6:0). In the semi-finals, the volleyball players from Poland's capital will compete in a two-match confrontation against Finland's Akaa. Perhaps ONICO Warszawa got lucky with the draw because the other semi-final pair is much tougher. 

If we look through the lineup of the capital's team, we'll once again credit Kevin Tilly, who consistently performs slightly above average – and Bartlomiej Bolondz excels in attack, he's arguably the 'Project Warszawa's' irreplaceable forward. GKS Katowice indeed look promising, and therefore, the leaders from the capital need to understand that they won't be given an easy match in the south of the country. They need to step up their game and prove their ambition to reach the No. 1 spot in the PlusLiga in all possible ways.

Head-to-head 

In the second round, ONICO Warszawa overcame the GKS Katowice club (3:0) on class, although their guests only began to understand how to act against their opponents' onslaught closer to the 3rd set. 

Match prediction: GKS Katowice - ONICO Warszawa

GKS Katowice shouldn't lose by a large margin, which is why I'm placing a bet on the handicap (+2,5) on sets in favour of the hosts, who managed to slightly steer away from the mid-season crisis.