Our Esports expert Michael Lee is back for a new week of gaming action from around the globe. Today's best bets come from the CS:GO Nine to Five Cup so check out his preview and Esports betting tips below.
ESports Betting Tips: Monday, December 7th
Heretics vs Illuminar
Nine to Five 7
Bryan "Maka" Canda's departure from Heretic has left the team in shambles and the series of unfortunate events that followed did not help their cause either. Not only has Maka's replacement Jordan "Python" Munck-Foehrle failed to live up to the expectations, but Heretics also ended up parting ways with Alexandre "xms" Forté and lost their head coach Morgan "B1GGY" Madour who got handed a ban for exploiting the spectator bug. And if all that is not enough, their most-experienced player Fabien "kioShiMa" Fiey is expected to miss out on the next couple of matches.
In a bid to start fresh, Heretics decided to sign Timothée "DEVIL" Démolon who is likely to become the new IGL and Boris "flex0r" Latry as their new head coach. For this match, Heretics will field two stand-ins Matthéo "nonick" Canei and Thomas "Djoko" Pavoni who are both of unknown quality.
With their new core, Heretics have won only one game out of six played against MBAPPEEK, but lost the remaining five against c0ntact, SG.pro, Nexus and ALTERNATE aTTaX, so it's obvious they're not in a good spot.
Illuminar, on the other side, are your typical tier-two team that won't stand out with their performances, however, since they are facing a team that is slowly falling apart, you simply have to favour them to win. Illuminar will enter this match after their morning bout against forZe, which should be a good warmup game that will help them claim a clean win. Bet on Illuminar to win 2-0!
Wisla Krakow vs Izako Boars
Nine to Five 7
Wisla Krakow and Izako Boars last met just a couple of days ago in the Polish Esport League Autumn 2020, where Izako Boars won 2-0 with 16-9 on Mirage and 16-11 on Train. The man of the match was Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek who ended the series with 47 frags and 1.29 HLTV rating, which was far higher than all of his teammates and all of Wisla Krakow players.
After their defeat against Boars, Wisla Krakow also dropped the ball against Sprout and Skade, meaning they will enter this match on a three-game losing streak. Izako Boars on the other side, have lost just two matches in the last five against Illuminar and Copenhagen Flames, but had no real issues adding two more wins against KOVA and Lyngby Vikings
These Polish CS:GO derbies tend to produce close affairs and I don't think this match will be any different which is why I can't agree with Izako Boars priced as such big underdogs. The match can end either way, so value should like with the Izako Boars.
Dignitas vs Apeks
Nine to Five 7
The last time these two teams met was back in August at the Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup 7, where Apeks reverse-swept Dignitas with 16-7 on Overpass and 16-12 on Vertigo after they lost (12-16) the first round on Nuke. Much of their success that day was thanks to former Ninjas in Pyjamas player Dennis "dennis" Edman, who had a stellar performance end ended the series with 65 frags and 1.30 HLTV rating.
On the side of Dignitas, Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg had a solid showing as well (74 frags and 1.27 HLTV rating), however, he was not able to carry his teammates who all underperformed. Nevertheless, the aforementioned match was played a while ago and since there were multiple roster changes on both ends since then, it's probably not smart to put too much importance on the final result.
Dignitas now field a fresh roster which holds some promise, but as it stands now, that is all Dignitas have to offer. Outside of their triumphs over forZe and c0ntact at FLASHPOINT 2, Dignitas have yet to achieve anything noteworthy which does not fill me up with confidence. Apeks, meanwhile won their last four games and even though those W came against weaker sides, the win streak should give them a confidence boost to repeat their success from August. Bet on Apeks to win!
