Our esports tipster, Michael Lee is back with his betting previews and predictions for three Counter-Strike: Global Offensive games on the first day of ESL Pro League Season 18. Today, he looks at Astralis vs Ninjas in Pyjamas, FURIA vs Movistar Riders, and Grayhound vs GamerLegion, who will meet on Wednesday, August 30, in Group A.
Check out our expert previews and betting tips below, and make sure to head over to Picklebet – Australia’s #1 esports betting site.
Esports Betting Tips: Wednesday, August 30th 2023
Astralis vs Ninjas in Pyjamas
ESL Pro League Season 18
Astralis and Ninjas in Pyjamas already met a month ago, during Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Cologne 2023, when Astralis won 2-0, and it seems like the Danes are in a good position to repeat that on Wednesday. Astralis have been playing well over the last month. They first left a good impression at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023 and then made the quarterfinals at IEM Cologne 2023.
Since Cologne. Astralis have attended just one more tournament, the Pinnacle Cup V, where they lost against 00Nation in the second round 1-2, which puts a stain on their otherwise good record.
Ninjas in Pyjamas didn’t perform as well in Cologne (13th-16th), and they didn’t look too good during the Intel Extreme Masters Sydney 2023: European Qualifier last week. In the IEM Sydney qualifiers, Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated 1win (2-1), lost against 9INE (0-2), then added another win against OG (2-1), but lost their final match against BetBoom Team.
Over the last month, Astralis have won more than Ninjas in Pyjamas, so I have no issue with them being priced as favourites for this match. But Astralis have also produced some concerning results against much weaker teams, which suggests that they’re not quite as stable as they would like to be.
NiP, although not in the best shape, should make this match interesting and make Astralis work for the win.
Over 2.5 Maps
$1.95 (1 Unit)
FURIA vs Movistar Riders
ESL Pro League Season 18
FURIA and Movistar Riders will play their first match since ESL Pro League Season 17 when FURIA won 2-1. However, that game happened nearly six months ago, so it doesn’t mean much here.
FURIA had a solid start to the year, but since IEM Rio 2023, they haven’t looked good. An early exit from the Paris major in May, a highly disappointing performance at IEM Dallas, and an early exit from IEM Cologne 2023 are all the Brazilian squad have to show for.
But things got even worse recently, as FURIA failed to make it through the two IEM Sydney open qualifiers, with defeats against Sprout and knasigT. Their only other tournament appearance, at Gamers8 2023, ended in a round-one exit with a 1-2 loss against Natus Vincere.
Movistar Riders are in a very similar spot results-wise. They’ve not won anything since very early into the year, and just like FURIA, Movistar didn’t make it through the two IEM Sydney open qualifiers, with defeats against Dynamo Eclot and ZenGaming. Earlier in August, Movistar Riders also struggled at CCT Online Finals (0-2) and exited Thunderpick World Championship 2023: European Series #1 in the first round.
Since the start of July, Movistar Riders have played 11 games and won five. That doesn’t sound too bad, but their only wins came against significantly weaker teams.
This is a match between two teams in terrible shape, and I expect it to play out as such. FURIA Esports might have better players, but this hasn’t helped them achieve much. I’ll take a shot with Movistar Riders.
Movistar Riders to win
$2.80 (2 Units)
Grayhound vs GamerLegion
ESL Pro League Season 18
The perpetual underdogs Grayhound enter ESL Pro League Season 18, hoping they can cause some chaos in the group stage, and while they’re arguably the weakest CS:GO team at the tournament, you can never count out the Australians.
Last month, Grayhound attended IEM Cologne 2023 and lost their first two games against FURIA and Imperial Esports. Two months earlier, Grayhound also played at IEM Dallas 2023 but suffered the same outcome, with two defeats against Cloud9 and Team Liquid.
Looking at this team’s tournament placements, Grayhound have looked excellent in various local tournaments, but they consistently exited big events early, struggling against stronger teams. So, how will they do against GamerLegion?
GamerLegion might not come off as a top-tier team, but this is a very solid squad. GamerLegion made the finals of the last Major and have since added two top-eight finishes at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023 and Gamers8. In both events, the international roster performed well against some of the world’s top teams, which is a good sign.
I wouldn’t expect GamerLegion to make a deep run at ESL Pro League Season 18, but they’re miles ahead of Grayhound, and they regularly do well against weaker teams. I expect a clean sweep.
GamerLegion -1.5 Maps
$2 (2 Unit)
