Michael Lee hit 5/6 of his Counter-Strike: Global Offensive picks last week and is now back with more esports betting previews and predictions, this time for three League of Legends matches. Today he looks at two Pro League (LPL) games and one Circuit Oceania (LCO) match for Monday, July 11.
Esports Betting Tips: Monday, July 4th
MAMMOTH vs Kanga Esports
LCO Split 2
MAMMOTH and Kanga Esports are two of the weakest League of Legends Circuit Oceania teams, but at least they’re not Gravitas, who have yet to win a game this split. MAMMOTH are 3-8, while Kanga Esports are 5-6, which is primarily thanks to Kanga’s incredible performances last week.
During the fifth week of Split 2, Kanga Esports defeated Gravitas, Dire Wolves, and PEACE, proving that they’re serious playoffs contenders. MAMMOTH were not as successful, but they still went 2-1 with wins against PEACE and Dire Wolves and one defeat against Pentanet.GG.
Kanga and MAMMOTH last met on June 20, when Kanga won, but I wouldn’t say that Kanga were the better team. MAMMOTH were on four drakes and in an excellent position to come out ahead. But a poorly executed teamfight at the 32nd minute turned the game upside down, leaving MAMMOTH to watch their Nexus explode.
Kanga had a better draft, so I can’t say that they did not deserve to win, but MAMMOTH played better and would have won had a few things ended differently. Over the entire split, Kanga have shown more, but I don’t believe they deserve to be such big favourites.
MAMMOTH to win at 2.50 is a solid choice, but I can’t pass on MAMMOTH with an 8.5 kills advantage. That line is way too high for how close the games in the current metagame can be, and knowing that the last match ended 17-15, a +8.5 handicap bet is an obvious choice.
MAMMOTH +8.5 Kills
$1.85 (1 Unit)
JD Gaming vs Rare Atom
LPL 2022 Summer
JD Gaming looked unstoppable until last week when they lost against FunPlus Phoenix despite leading with over 2.3k gold at 15 minutes. But it’s not like that was the first shaky performance from JD Gaming, who have dropped maps against OMG and LGD.
Regardless, JD Gaming are looking very sharp. They might not have the explosive wins that V5 are putting together, but they get the job done and are playing at a very high level. They have no clear weaknesses, and it seems like the current metagame suits them.
Rare Atom are 2-5, which is a fair record for what they’ve shown so far. Their only two split wins came against OMG (2-1) and Team WE, but we’ve not seen much from Rare Atom besides that. I even have a hard time saying that Rare Atom are a mid-table team, which they’re not unless we see some improvement.
JD Gaming are more than capable of giving away one map, but that’s entirely on them. They’re much stronger in all aspects of the game, and unless they slip, JD Gaming should win 2-0!
JD Gaming -1.5 Maps
$1.85 (1 Unit)
FunPlus Phoenix vs LNG Esports
LPL 2022 Summer
FunPlus Phoenix are not getting the respect they deserve, and even though they did go 0-5 across the first three weeks of Summer Split, FPX have been playing much better since that dry streak. Last week, FunPlus Phoenix demolished Rare Atom (2-0) and secured a 2-1 victory against JD Gaming.
Notably, FPX were down around 2.3k gold at the 15-minute mark against JD Gaming and still won, which is seriously impressive. Not only because FPX overcame a massive deficit, but because they did it against JD Gaming. But regardless of their strong showing last week, FunPlus Phoenix disappointed a bit against LGD Gaming on Wednesday when they lost one map (2-1).
LNG Esports ended last week with a 1-1 record, with a 2-0 sweep against Invictus Gaming and a 1-2 defeat against JD Gaming. Although not a perfect week, LNG are still 5-3, which is good enough to keep them in the race for the playoffs spot.
This should be an interesting match between LNG Esports who are individually stronger than FunPlus Phoenix but also a lot sloppier. I still believe LNG are good enough to emerge as one of LPL’s top teams, but they make too many mistakes and often give up unnecessary maps, as evident in their map record (12-9).
FunPlus Phoenix are not perfect either, but they have been improving, so that’s a plus. They’re nowhere near where they were in Spring, but FPX are not getting enough respect in the betting markets.
I could see this game reach the third map, but at 2.37, I’ll take FunPlus Phoenix to win.
FunPlus Phoenix to win
$2.37 (1 Unit)
