Olympics Day 14 best bets & value picks – Friday, August 6

BettingPlanet takes a look at USA vs Serbia in the women’s basketball, Canada vs Sweden in the women’s soccer and the women’s 400m final in today’s best bets from the Olympic Games.

Women’s Basketball: United States (-17.5) over Serbia

The USA women were firing on all cylinders in their 79-55 win over Australia in the first game of the knockout stage. It was a considerably stronger effort than the ones the United States had given in lackluster group stage wins over Nigeria, France, and Japan. But it also makes sense that a team that has now won 54 straight games in the Olympics and is two wins away from a seventh straight gold medal didn’t feel the need to dial up their focus and energy during a group stage they were never going to fail to advance out of.

If the United States brings a similar effort in the semifinals, another blowout will almost certainly be in store. Serbia was the only team to advance into the knockout stage with a negative point differential (-7) and was down 58-49 at the end of the third quarter against China before catching fire in the fourth quarter and delivering an improbable 77-70 upset.

With the exception of one great quarter, Serbia has not been all that impressive to this point. The Serbian women’s last game against the United States in 2020 ended in an 88-69 USA blowout. Expect a similar result this time around.

Women’s Soccer: Sweden over Canada

The Canadian women’s soccer team have been one of the most exciting stories of these Olympics. After settling for bronze in each of the last two Olympic Games, Canada will win at least silver after ending a 20-year winless streak against the United States with a 1-0 victory in the semifinals. Canada has never trailed in its five games and has produced back-to-back clean sheets in wins over Brazil and the USA.

It’s quite the fairy tale story, but it’s set to come to an end in the gold medal game. Sweden has been the tournament’s best team by a decent margin with a perfect 5-0-0 record. Star striker Stina Blackstenius leads a Swedish attack that has scored 13 goals in five games while conceding only three. The Swedish women are 14-5-4 in 23 all-time matches against Canada. Unlike the United States, which Canada was able to catch in poor form, Sweden is playing at an extremely high level. Look for Sweden to grab an early lead and to coast to a fairly comfortable win for gold.

Women’s 400m: Stephanie Ann McPherson over the field

Make no mistake about it – Shaunae Miller-Uibo will win this race if she is at her best. Miller-Uibo narrowly defeated Allyson Felix with a controversial dive for gold in this event in 2016, and since then she’s improved to become one of the best in the world. She won silver in the 2019 World Championships with the fifth fastest time ever in the 400m with a 48.37 and ran a 49.08 earlier this year to beat a stadium record in Eugene, Oregon.

But the value on this race is clearly on Stephanie Ann McPherson. McPherson is in strong form coming off of a series of wins including a victory in the Wanda Diamond League meeting last month. She recorded a personal best run of 49.61 during the Jamaican trials in June and actually beat that with a 49.34 in the semifinals for this event, recording the fastest time in both semifinals races.

Miller-Uibo wasn’t giving 100% in her semifinals race and could have something extra in the tank in the finals. If she doesn’t bring her absolute best, however, McPherson looks poised to pull off the upset.