A weekend where sporting action around the globe started to return to the forefront is winding down but there is still plenty of esports action to look forward to this Sunday night and into Monday morning! See our best bets from the CS:GO and DOTA2 titles for Sunday night below.
Esports Betting Tips: Sunday, May 17th
Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Heretics
CS:GO ESL One: Road to Rio
Ninjas and Heretics will meet this Sunday at ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe in an exciting match which will decide which team will finish the tournament fifth and which will have to settle with a sixth-place finish.
Ninjas in Pyjamas finished the group stage with the same record as Astralis, but due to their defeat against the Danes, they had to settle for a runner-up finish. Throughout the tournament, NiP won a total of six matches out of seven played, inclusing wins against Vitality, Dignitas, ENCE, Complexity, Heretics and Fnatic, which is quite an impressive record for such a young side. Despite their strong run, NiP have cooled down a bit recently, as they have lost both of their playoffs matches against FaZe (1-2) and Vitality (1-2), although they have shown a great deal of resistance. Heretics started RtR strong with three wins against Dignitas, ENCE and Complexity, but quickly lost their momentum and accumulated only one win out of their last six played. On a bright side, Heretic won one map against NiP, Fnatic, and G2, however, their overall performance only proves Heretics are nothing special.
NiP and Heretics have met twice so far, once at the ECS Season 8 Europe and in the ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe. Both games played out the same way - Heretics won the first map, but ended up suffering a reverse-sweep. Based on their recent showings, both teams have a tendency to drop at least one map and since Heretics are currently playing at their peak, there is a high chance we might see another three-map series.
CDEC vs Sparking Arrow Gaming
DOTA2 DPL-CDA Professional League Season 1
CDEC and Sparking Arrow Gaming will meet this Sunday on the final day of DPL-CDA Professional League Season 1. This will be their second meeting in less than a week, having previously met at China Dota2 Professional League Season 2, where CDEC came away with a 2-0 win. Before that, these two sides met in March at CDA League Season 1: Qualifier, where it was SAG who won 2-1. In fact, SAG won three out of their last four meetings.
In all frailness, CDEC have improved recently, but at these odds, siding with them on an outright market is not something I am prepared to do. Having said that, SAG look to be in terrible shape. They won only one match in their last six and even that came against VG.Potential, who are an academy team. Based on their recent showings, SAG can only defeat tier-two teams and until they can improve, betting against them, even with a handicap of -1.5 maps, is a good bet to take. Bet on CDEC to pocket another 2-0 win against the struggling SAG.
CDEC Gaming -1.5 Maps
$2.60
Royal Never Give Up vs Aster
DOTA2 DPL-CDA Professional League Season 1
The final fixture of the tournament will see Royal Never Give Up take on Aster in what is billed as a very one-sided bout. Aster are entering this match as heavy underdogs and quite frankly, I can agree with that. Aster and RNG met three times in the last 30 days. In their first meeting at CDA League Season 1 Aster won 2-0, however, RNG got their revenge with two clean sweeps at OGA Dota PIT 2020 Online: China and China Dota2 Professional League Season 2. If that is not bad enough. Aster also lost all of their last four fixtures against IG (1-2), CDEC (1-2), EHOME (0-2) and ViCi (1-2). They did, however, take one map against IG, ViCi and CDEC which is a plus.
RNG, on the other side are entering this match with a 3-2 record. They defeated SAG (2-0), Keen Gaming (2-0) and Newbee (2-1), but lost to ViCi (1-2) and EHOME (1-2). Although RNG are holding onto a three-game winning streak, they only defeated much weaker teams, which makes me believe they are not as solid as some may think. Both Aster and RNG have had their ups and downs and quite frankly, it's difficult to predict a winner. This match seems like it will go down to the wire, meaning we can expect to see all three maps played. Bet on over 2.5 maps!
