The DOTA2 ESL One Birmingham tournament worth a monster $355,000 continues this Thursday night and we have you covered with a full preview and betting tips for three of the key clashes of the night below.
Esports Betting Tips: Thursday, May 28th
PSG.LGD vs Royal Never Give Up
ESL One Birmingham 2020 - Online: China
PSG.LGD and Royal Never Give Up are entering this bout with a perfect 2-0 record and although both sides already guaranteed themselves a spot in the playoffs, this will be an important match to win and further establish themselves as the favourites to win the whole thing. PSG.LGD and RNG met three times this month. PSG.LGD won twice with 2-1 and 2-0, while RNG picked won (2-0) their most recent meeting at DPL-CDA Professional League Season 1.
While PSG.LGD are in better form, having won nine games in a row, both teams looked very strong through the tournament and it’s hard to set them apart. This match has the potential to go both ways, but no matter which team comes out ahead, it will be a close fixture that can easily end with all three maps played.
Aster vs Longinus
ESL One Birmingham 2020 - Online: China
After losing two in a row, Aster and Loginus will look to pick up their first win of the tournament, which won't help them achieve anything, but it will at least give them some comfort knowing they were not the worst team in their group.
At the first glance, this match seems like it will be very one-sided, considering Longinus are an amateur team, however, they held on well against PSG.LGD and even had their moments against RNG. I'm not trying to say Longinus are a good team, but neither are Aster, who looked surprisingly bad throughout the tournament. They did show some promise against PSG.LGD and had their chances against RNG, but at the end of the day, Aster failed to show up. It may be the online format or some internal struggles that are keeping them back, but this team is clearly going through some tough times.
I'm not expecting Longinus to win, but if Aster fail to improve upon their recent performances, they're likely to drop at least one map. Bet on Loginus to steal one map from Aster.
Invictus Gaming vs EHOME
ESL One Birmingham 2020 - Online: China
I had high hopes for both Invictus Gaming and EHOME heading into the ESL One Birmingham, but they failed to impress me with their showings. IG defeated SAG (2-1) and lost to CDEC (0-2), while EHOME lost to CDEC (1-2) and defeated SAG (2-1). Based on those results, EHOME look to be in slightly better shape, since they won their fixture on Wednesday. Apart from that, EHOME also defeated IG once before at OGA Dota PIT 2020 Online: China and before that at CDA League Season 1, while IG picked up a narrow 2-1 win over EHOME at DPL-CDA Professional League Season 1.
In their last four fixtures, IG and EHOME won two matches apiece, so in terms of their H2H record, they seem to be equally matched. Nonetheless, EHOME showed a lot more quality through ESL One Birmingham and seemed far more stable with their performances. IG, on the other side seemed a bit out of tempo, especially in their match against CDEC, where they showed nothing. I like EHOME better for this match, as I don't see how IG can come back from their poor showing on Wednesday and win here.
