Another great night of esports action coming up this Monday night and once again, Michael Lee has you covered with his best bets for the night! In this slate, he focuses heavily on the CS:GO FunSpark ULTI 2020 event, which sees some of the best teams in the world facing off.
Esports Betting Tips: Monday, August 10th
Giants vs Syman
FunSpark ULTI 2020 Europe Qualifier
Giants have looked decent in their recent fixtures and while they got swept by Nexus and their local rivals saW, Giants at least managed double digits on all four maps. On a more positive note, they have won two BO3 games against Unicorns of Love and eXploit (both 2-0) and took down Dignitas (16-12) in a BO1 match.
Giant spent most of their time in tier 2 competitions such as Master League Portugal V, Betano Masters Europe 2020 and RTP Arena Cup and so far, I must say I'm not too impressed with what they have shown, despite their occasional firm performances.
Syman will enter the match in similar form as Giants - with two losses in their last five. Syman lost to Dignitas and lvlUP, but had no issues defeating Winstrike, GamerLegion and Secret. Based on their results and overall performances, Syman are a decent tier 2 CIS team and their six-game winning streak at the most recent Nine to Five was quite impressive, however, it unfortunately had to end with a loss to Gambit Youngster.
Giants, while a team that can put up decent results are not what I would describe as a good team. Yes, they have defeated Dignitas, but that win was more of a fluke than anything else. Dignitas are also not a good online team, so it's hard to praise any roster than can defeat them now.
Syman, on the other hand, have had much better performances and while it is true that they have tendency to occasionally fall apart after a couple of poor rounds, they should prove to be too much for the Portuguese side to defeat. Bet on Syman to win 2-0!
Nordavind vs Movistar Riders
FunSpark ULTI 2020 Europe Qualifier
Nordavind have recently attended Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup 5 where they produced a third-fourth place finish with three wins against the likes of CR4ZY, SG.pro and GamerLegion and two losses to NAVI Junior and HONORIS. Prior to that, Nordavind won the first Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup where they defeated AGO, HellRaisers, Gambit Youngsters, sAw and AGO, but have been on a vacation for a month between the two tournaments.
As I look at the betting odds, I don't believe Movistar Riders should be priced as high as they are. Sure, they looked terrible at the cs_summit 6 Europe where they only managed to defeat FATE, but we have to consider the fact that they had to face North, G2 and FaZe, who are far stronger teams. You would not expect Movistar Riders to get anything from those matches, but they did! Movistar took one map from both G2 and North and if that does not show some level of quality, I don't know what does.
Movistar also attended the most recent ESEA MDL Europe where they finished at a disappointing 14th place with only four wins out of eight games played. Their most recent match was against Endpoint where they came away with a narrow 16-14 win, which is quite good for a team that has been out of the action for a month.
There is no real difference in quality between these two teams and since both are still a bit rusty from their vacations, we should be in for an open game that can end either way. Value bet on Movistar Riders!
Cloud9 vs YeaH Gaming
FunSpark ULTI 2020 North America Qualifier
Cloud9 are one of the top-tier teams in the CS:GO scene and understandably they mostly played top tier teams in their most recent competitive endeavours which include cs_summit 6 North America, where they finished fifth with two wins against FURIA and Gen.G and two losses to 100 Thieves and Gen.G.
Cloud9 also participated at the DreamHack Masters Spring 2020 - North America in June, where they finished fourth with wins over MIBR, Gen.G and Evil Genuises, and losses to Team Liquid and 100 Thieves. From the looks of it, Cloud9 are capable of challenging any top-tier NA team right now, but on the other end, they are also prone to dropping the ball and lose to any team, be it a top-tier or a B-tier, depending on any given day.
YeaH, on the other side are entering this match on a five-match losing streak. They lost to FURIA, ze Pug Godz, Positive Vibes Only, News England Whalers and Triumph and since none of those teams (besides FURIA) can be regarded as good teams, it's easy to speculate YeaH are in for a tough match this Monday.
There is a massive quality gap between YeaH and Cloud9 and to be fair, it's hard to expect C9 losing this one. YeaH are not only far worse team quality-wise, but their mental state after a five-game losing streak can't be too good and is definitely not at the level needed to cause any upsets.
In all fairness, Cloud9 should be walking away from this match with a 2-0 win, however, the odds offered on a -1.5 map handicap are not exactly inviting. Nevertheless, we expect a dominant win from the NA roster and since they will look to get off to a flying start, betting on C9 to win the first map of the series with at least six rounds to spare is the best bet to take. Bet on Cloud9 to cover the spread on map 1.
