Michael Lee continues his coverage of Intel Extreme Masters Season XVII – Cologne with another set of games for Tuesday, July 5. Today he looks at BIG vs ORDER, MIBR vs Movistar Riders, and TYLOO vs Team Vitality.
Esports Betting Tips: Tuesday, July 5th
BIG vs ORDER
IEM Cologne 2022
BIG and ORDER will cross swords on Tuesday, July 5, in the first round of the IEM Cologne 2022 Play-In stage, for the first time since October 2021, when BIG won 16-9. It was their third H2H victory against the Australian squad (3-1), and it's fair to assume that BIG will improve that record to 4-1.
ORDER recently acquired Renegades' CS:GO roster, which technically makes them the best Australian CS:GO team. That doesn't change the fact that ORDER are likely one of the weakest team attending the event, but we must also keep in mind that Renegades have caused some damage in big events, so I wouldn't write off ORDER completely.
However, ORDER can be competitive, I don't have high expectations for them for this match. BIG have been playing exceptionally well lately and have recently won Roobet Cup by defeating the current no.1 team in the world, FaZe Clan. Before that, BIG also finished third in Pinnacle Cup Championship and reached the semi-finals at Intel Extreme Masters XVII – Dallas.
With their current form, BIG shouldn't struggle to beat ORDER. I have to take the Mannschaft with a -6.5 round handicap.
BIG -6.5 Rounds
$1.90 (1 Unit)
MIBR vs Movistar Riders
IEM Cologne 2022
MIBR are priced as 2.20 underdogs for their meeting with Movistar Riders (1.61), but perhaps the Spanish squad should be priced at even lower odds. Even though Movistar Riders haven't won any important events in 2022, they already won against MIBR (16-3) at the start of the month and they are in great shape.
The fact that Movistar Riders demolished MIBR just three days ago alone is enough for me to trust the Spanish squad for this bout. But there's more.
MIBR are 3-4 across their last seven matches, which includes defeats against BIG (7-16), Heroic (0-2), Movistar Riders (3-16), and even Rare Atom, who swept the Brazilian squad 2-0. Even though MIBR had won three straight games before their 3-4 streak, their only defeats came against BHOP, Axolotis, and Mythic, which are third-tier teams.
There is no reason to believe MIBR can compete with Movistar Riders and even fewer reasons to believe they can actually win. I'll take Movistar Riders to cover the 2.5-round line any day of the week.
Movistar Riders -2.5 Rounds
$1.80 (2 Units)
TYLOO vs Team Vitality
IEM Cologne 2022
This is likely the biggest mismatch of the day, featuring the current no.5 team in the world taking on TYLOO, who have just recently climbed up to no.55 in the global rankings. Past results-wise, there isn't much to talk about mainly because the teams have faced opponents of different quality.
Vitality are 3-3 over the last 30 days, with defeats against Natus Vincere and G2 Esports (1-2, 0-2). But they also won against G2 (2-1) in a rematch, paiN Gaming (2-1), and ENCE (2-0).
TYLOO are 1-3 since the start of June, with sole victory against Strife, and three defeats against Movistar Riders (1-2), MIBR (0-2), and Illuminar Gaming (0-2).
We have to consider that the teams have not played an official match in three weeks, meaning we can expect some ring rust. But even if Vitality don't play at 100%, I don't see them struggling against TYLOO.
Perhaps we could make a case for the Chinese squad if Hansel "BnTeT" Ferdinand was in good form, but he has been averaging a 0.98 rating, and that's not enough for me to believe he can go toe-to-toe with Vitality players.
This should be a very quick match, with Vitality sealing the deal in no more than 25 rounds. Take the Bees with a -6.5 round handicap!
Team Vitality -6.5 Rounds
$1.90 (1 Unit)
