DOTA2 headlines the esports action around the world this Monday night and into Tuesday morning! See our best bets for the action below.
Esports Betting Tips: Monday, May 18th
Alliance vs FlyToMoon
OGA DOTA2 PIT 2020 Online: Europe/CIS
If there is one thing that needs to be talked about here is why bookmakers are offering 2.40 on Alliance to win the match 2-0. While it's true that online fixtures are very unpredictable, and often result in underdogs taking an upset win, I have a hard time believing that will be the case here. Alliance have won six out of their last eight matches played, which includes 2-0 win against Nigma, 2-0 against NiP and 2-1 against OG and Liquid, who are all significantly stronger teams compared to FlyToMoon. FTM, on the other side also won six out of their last eight matches, but their wins came against Team Spirit, Vikin.gg, HellRaisers, B8 and Virtus.pro.
As for their performances at OGA Dota PIT, FTM defeated Vikin.gg (2-1) and HellRaisers (2-0), while Alliance defeated only Vikin.gg (2-1). FTM seem to be overrated here, as they did not show anything promising in a while. Although they did pick up a couple of upset wins, those wins were nothing more than flukes. Betting on a team to win an online match with a clean sweep is always risky, but with 2.30 offered on Alliance at -1.5 map handicap, this bet is worth the risk. Alliance have defeated much stronger teams before and unless they drop the ball here, they should have no problems winning without losing a single map.
Team Secret vs Team Liquid
OGA DOTA2 PIT 2020 Online: Europe/CIS
Team Liquid have been all over the place with their results since the start of May. They defeated Nigma, Secret, OG and OG.seed at Pushka League and even made it to the semi-finals, only to lose to VP.Prodigy, which should not happen. In their last three fixtures, Liquid lost to NiP (1-2), defeated Spirit (2-0) and lost to Alliance (0-2), further proving they are a hit-or-miss team. Team Secret, on the other side, are not in a much better spot than Team Liquid in terms of consistency, although they are on a nine-game winning streak, during which they already defeated Liquid (2-0).
When it comes to Team Liquid, the question is not so much whether they're a strong team or not, but instead whether they will show up on a given day or not. Most of the bets on Team Liquid seem to be hit-or-miss as they can either impress or fall flat. For this match, PickleBet is offering 1.88 on a +1.5 map handicap, which is very tempting. Team Secret have struggled to defeat Alliance on Saturday which is a reason enough for us to avoid backing them on the -1.5 map handicap. Since this is an online fixture between two top-tier teams, this match seems like it can go either way and while Secret still look like the team to beat, they should not have an easy time against Liquid.
Team Liquid +1.5 Maps
$1.88
Team Spirit vs Ninjas in Pyjamas
OGA DOTA2 PIT 2020 Online: Europe/CIS
Team Spirit have been performing very poorly throughout the last two months and are entering this match with a 2-8 record and a five-game losing streak, which is why I don't believe Spirit should be considered as a team that can win. Ninjas in Pyjamas have not been too impressive recently either, but they at least defeated Virtus.pro (2-0), Liquid (2-1) and played all three maps against OG (1-2).
The last time NiP and Spirit met was in April during ESL One Los Angeles 2020 - Online: Europe & CIS, where Team Spirit won 2-0. At that time, Spirit were on some kind of resurgence, but have since cooled down significantly. NiP already defeated VP and Liquid, who are both much stronger sides than Spirit and if they can show the same fire here, Spirit will struggle to win a single map.
