Michael Lee is back with free esports betting previews and predictions. Today, he looks at a pair of Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) second-division matches, including Western Europe’s clash between Chicken Fighters and Entity and North America’s meeting between Electronic Boys and KBU.US well as China’s top division match between EHOME and Team Aster.
Esports Betting Tips: Tuesday, January 11th
Chicken Fighters vs Entity
DPC WEU Tour 1 Division II
Chicken Fighters have been on top of their game this tour, going 5-0 with a very impressive 10-2 map difference. So far, the only two teams which caused Chicken Fighters issues were Into The Breach and Brame, who stole one map each from the current frontrunners.
Outside of those two three-map series, it was smooth sailing for Chicken Fighters, who are just one win away from claiming the title and a direct promotion into the upper-division for the next tour.
Entity has not been as impressive, but they’re still 5-1 with an 11-2 map difference, which is a very solid record that ties them with Brame in second place in the standings. Entity have been playing exceptionally well so far, and while they ended up losing against Team Bald (0-2) in December, I wouldn’t overreact to that result.
Entity have since picked up two back-to-back 2-0 wins against Into The Beach and CHILLAX, which isn’t ground-breaking, but it proves that Entity is back in form and ready to pick up their sixth win of the division.
PickleBet has Entity priced as 2.60 underdogs and Chicken Fighters as 1.45 favourites, which doesn’t seem right. However, I would rank Chicken Fighters higher; Entity shouldn’t be priced much higher than evens. Entity to win at 2.60 is a great value bet.
KBU.US vs Electronic Boys
DPC NA Tour 1 Division II
Electronic Boys finally got their first win on Sunday, when they edged past 5RATFORCESTAFF (2-1) to improve their record to 1-4, which sits them in a four-way tie with 5ManMidas, felt, and Team Magnus.
Electronic Boys are not in a very good spot with only one win from five series, but they haven’t been playing as poorly as their record might suggest. Yes, they have only recently won a series, but all of Electronic Boys’ four losses went to three maps, so they aren’t bad; Electronic Boys just weren’t able to close out any of their opening four matches.
That stretch includes three-map series against a 4-1 team, Team DogChamp and the current division leaders, The Cup. So even though Electronic Boys lost against both of these teams, they still won a map, which is worth something.
KBU.US are a middle-of-the-table team, who enter this match with a 3-2 record and a 7-5 map differential. KBU.US have already done enough to avoid relegation, but they’re also way too far off the top teams to have a legitimate chance to win the division.
This puts KBU.US in a spot where they don’t really need to win, so it will be interesting to see how will that affect their performances. In contrast, Electronic Boys need to win at least one more bout.
KBU.US have shown more this division, but I find Electronic Boys to be underestimated. They have been playing much better than what their 1-4 record would suggest, and their win on Sunday just might be what this team needed to find some traction. This is a longshot bet, but I like Electronic Boys at 3.10.
EHOME vs Team Aster
DPC CN Tour 1 Division II
EHOME and Team Aster will clash on Tuesday in what I find to be one of the most exciting games of the week for China’s division. EHOME enter the match as heavy underdogs (3.10), expected to struggle to make it past Aster (1.32), which may seem like a fair price, but I find EHOME to be slightly underrated.
EHOME have gone 2-1 across the first three rounds, with wins against Phoenix Invictus Gaming and a 1-2 defeat against Royal Never Give Up. Team Aster, meanwhile, lost against PSG.LGD on the opening day of the division but have since picked up wins against Vici and LBZS.
On paper, Tea Aster have done much better, but I don’t believe beating Vici – in their current state – or LBZS is an achievement. Both of these teams are 1-2 and hardly one of the top teams in the league.
Meanwhile, EHOME defeated Invictus Gaming which is quite impressive. Then they also had a solid performance against Royal Never Give Up on Monday.
We’re still only a couple of weeks into the new season, and we can’t say for sure how good EHOME and Aster will be. But I would rank them very close to one another.
Aster still seem like a stronger team that can achieve more this season, but we can’t say for certain since we have only seen them play a few games so far. EHOME can win, but I’ll play it safe and take the underdogs with a map handicap.
