Our Esports expert Michael Lee is back for a new week of Esports excitement from around the globe. Today's best bets come from the OGA Counter PIT Season 8 and the ESEA Advanced Season 35 Europe so check out his preview and Esports betting tips here.
ESports Betting Tips: Monday, November 9th
Espada vs AGO
OGA Counter PIT Season 8
Espada have lost only one match in the last five against Virtus.pro (0-2) but managed to defeat the likes of GODSENT, Apeks and AGF twice. Espada have also won 68.6% of their matches since August so they should be entering this match in high spirits.
AGO, on the other hand have lost all of their last three fixtures against PACT, AVEZ and AGF, and have won only 34.6% of their matches across the last three months. It's also important to note they have made two roster changes in September, but have since not shown any signs of improvement.
AGO and Espada have never met before and to make this match even trickier to predict it as it already is, it will be played online which is a format notorious for very volatile results - especially at a lower tier of CS:GO. This, however, makes me wonder why Espada are priced as such big favourites.
Sure, they are in better form, but when it comes to team quality, they're not as far ahead of AGO as the odds might imply. Nevertheless, it's hard to make a case for AGO, especially with all the roster moves and their poor form. Bet on Espada to win 2-0!
Izako Boars vs Winstrike
ESEA Advanced Season 35 Europe
The last time these two teams met was back in August at the Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup 7 where we got to see a very close bout that went into multiple overtimes before Izako Boars claimed a 25-21 victory. Winstrike actually held a 9-6 lead at the half time that day, but since the match was played on Vertigo (T-Sided), Izako Boars were able to force overtime and eventually stole the win.
The veteran CS player Vladyslav "bondik" Nechyporchuk was the best-performing player on Winstrike with 37 frags and 1.22 HLTV rating, while Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek took all the spotlight on the side of Izako Boars with 44 frags and an amazing 1.37 HLTV rating.
The betting odds suggest this will be an easy victory for Winstrike, but I don't think the game will be as straightforward for the favourites as some may believe. Both teams are in very shaky form and even though it's true Winstrike's roster has more experienced pieces that does not mean much in the online CS.
Considering how close the previous encounter between Winstrike and Izako Boars was, I expect much of the same here as well. Bet on over 2.50 maps!
Sj vs LDLC
ESEA Advanced Season 35 Europe
SJ and LDLC last met a couple of weeks ago in the Betway Nine To Five 5 tournament, where SJ claimed an upset win in an otherwise very close series. SJ won the match with 16-14 on Overpass and 19-17 on Dust2.
SJ's trio of Tuomas "SADDYX" Louhimaa, Tony "arvid" Niemelä and Jemi "jemi" Mäkinen were the best performing individuals on the day with over 43 frags and 1.12 HLTV rating. On the side of LDLC Aurélien "afroo" Drapier and Ali "hAdji" Haïnouss did some heavy lifting both with 50 frags and 1.24 and 1.22 HLTV rating respectively, but even that was not enough for the French side to win.
The last clash went down to the wire and I expect to see much of the same this Monday. The bookmakers don’t seem to agree and have priced LDLC as the favourites, which is likely due to the brand value alone.
While a well-established team, LDLC don't field any players I would consider special and are on top of that on a four-game losing streak which includes losses to Movistar Riders, Galaxy Races, Sj and Virtus.pro. Even though SJ's form is not exactly spectacular (1-4), they have at least managed to defeat Apeks, yet they still lost to Project X, SKADE, PACT and ALTERNATE aTTaX.
The value is probably on SJ, but that bet seems way too risky for me. Instead, I would much rather prefer to bet on the series to go the distance.
