There are some great matchups in the world of esports this Thursday night and once again, Michael Lee has you covered with his best bets of the night across the CS:GO titles.
Esports Betting Tips: Thursday, August 6th
AGO vs Sprout
MDL Season 33 Europe Finals
Both AGO and Sprout are showing solid form as of late, which makes me excited for what is to unfold this Thursday. AGO are coming into the match following a close 1-2 loss to Nordavind, but have before that managed convincing wins against ex-SMASH, forZe, HellRaisers and Syman, so there is no reason to doubt their form.
AGO finished second at the most recent Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup, where they only lost the grand finals against the aforementioned Nordavind and are currently holding a 56% win rate across the last three months. Overall, AGO look decent and the only thing that worries me is that they haven't played a single match for more than a month. Then again, the same can be said for Sprout, who were also on a month-long break, so perhaps this won't be a huge factor in this bout.
Sprout recently claimed the ESEA MDL Season 34 Europe regular-season crown, where they lost only two games against HellRaisers and AGO and were last seen competing in the Hellcase Cup 8, where they finished third following two losses to Nemiga and Hard Legion. As for their performances across the last three months, Sprout won 65.2% of their matches which is quite impressive.
Despite Sprout's high win rate, I don't rate this squad very highly and I certainly don't agree with the odds, which seem to overvalue the brand name. AGO are definitely not that bad as the odds suggest and considering this is an important match for both teams, we can expect a close and exciting bout that can easily end both ways.
If Spiidi and denis manage to play somewhat decent, Sprout are probably walking away with a win, but if they drop the ball again (as they did throughout most of their careers as pro players), AGO will have a legitimate shot of winning here. Value bet on AGO!
G.pro vs forZe
Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup 6
I'm not too thrilled with forZe and what they have been showing as of late. A mediocre fourth-place finish at the Hellcase Cup 8, fifth-eighth at Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup 1 and third-fourth at Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup 2, may look decent on paper, but seeing them lose to the likes of Hard Legion, Nemiga, AGO does not convince me this team is anywhere near as solid as they perhaps should be.
As for SG.pro, they are not even close to one of the best teams in the CIS region and have on top of that produced even worse results than forZe with their losses to Izako Boars and HONORIS. Having said that, SG.pro have at least been playing games, whereas forZe decided to take a three-week break, which just might play an important factor in this match.
Looking at the betting odds, I don't think this game will be as easy for forZe as the odds would suggest. History has shown that even strong favourites who have been on a break struggle against the underdogs who have been regularly playing games and I don't believe this match will be any different.
Sure, forZe are still the better team and the fact that they have won 60% of their matches across the past three months might suggest they will be wining this one with ease, but they are also quite lacklustre at times and are prone to losing games against significantly weaker teams. Consistency is not their strong suit and if we add the lack of playtime to the mix, we have the right recipe for an upset.
I can also add that forZe are not exactly a tactical team and as a result most of their games tend to be very "puggy", which is another reason why backing the underdogs is the only logical thing to do. Value bet on SG-pro.
AVEZ vs HONORIS
Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup 6
The opening match of Group C at Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup 6 will serve us with another Polish derby between AVEZ and HONORIS, who can be regarded as two of the weakest teams from their region.
AVEZ and HONORIS last met was just a couple of weeks ago in the Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup 4, where AVEZ struggled to walk away with a 2-1 win. They should have arguably won the match 2-0, but somehow managed to underperform on Dust2, which should in theory end with a complete stomp from the side of AVEZ since HONORIS don't field players who can carry their team on maps like that.
The story almost repeated itself on Vertigo where AVEZ took a 12-4 half time lead but again dropped the ball and let HONORIS force overtime. The teams went back and forth for a couple of overtimes until AVEZ finally closed the deal with 31-27.
In my opinion, the match was unnecessarily long and AVEZ should have closed out the series much sooner had they not made a couple of foolish mistakes that almost cost them the win. If AVEZ are serious about playing CS:GO at a high level, they should perform better this time out and avoid making the same mistakes, which is exactly what I expect to see from them.
The odds on AVEZ may seem a bit short, but in reality, they should be even shorter. HONORIS have been a terrible team since they were formed and I am sure AVEZ are highly motivated to impress since they will be facing two Polish CS legends in TaZ and NEO, who I might add are only a shadow of their former selves and should consider retirement instead of tainting their legacy by playing with HONORIS. Since this is a BO1 match it might be a bit risky to bet on the favourites, nevertheless, I don't see how AVEZ can lose here. Bet on AVEZ to win!
