?BIG have recently attended PGL Major Stockholm 2021, where they achieved nothing worth celebrating. The German squad exited the tournament in the New Challengers stage, with losses against Copenhagen Flames (11-16), ENCE (1-2), and MOUZ (1-2), and two wins against Entropiq (16-13) and Renegades (16-9).

Team GamerLegion have yet to attend an S-Tier tournament in their history and spent most of October competing in second-tier competitions and a few qualifiers. Most notably, GL made it through the DreamHack Open qualifiers about three weeks back with wins against forZe (2-1, 2-1) and Sinners Esports (2-1).

On paper, BIG are the better team, but realistically, they haven’t won a single important match since the departure of ?smailсan “XANTARES” D?rtkarde?. Although still an excellent tactical team, BIG lack the firepower to run over weaker squads. The Germans should win, but their win rate is worse than GamerLegion’s on four out of seven maps, suggesting this match can go the distance.

?ENCE entered the recently finished PGL Major Stockholm as one of the dark horses to make a deep run, but they couldn’t make it happen. While the Finns went 3-1 in the New Challengers stage, everything came crashing down in the New Legends stage, where they lost against Gambit Esports, Team Liquid and MOUZ.

Admittedly, ENCE are not good enough to compete against the elite CS:GO esports squads, but they’re still a top-tier team. Meanwhile, ForZe have had some flashes of greatness over the season, but success at big tournaments has eluded them.

ENCE and forZe last met in September during ESL Pro League Season 14, where the Finns won 2-0 with 16-5 on Nuke and 16-11 on Mirage. ForZe have not improved one bit since then, which is why we’re siding with ENCE to recreate that result.

?Fnatic have done an excellent job assembling a new CS:GO roster, which might lack any notable achievements as of now but has all the right pieces for a bright future. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the Team Spirit squad, which is parting ways with the organisation after this tournament due to poor results over the year.

Spirit are still a very talented team, but the situation they’re currently in can result in one of two things: either Abdulkhalik “degster” Gasanov and co. enter this match with poor morale, or they will be even more motivated to step up and get spotted by another team.

Either way, it’s hard to make a case for Fnatic at $1.44 since they aren’t that much better than Team Spirit talent-wise. There is a world where Fnatic sweep Spirit, but there is also a good chance that the Russians cause an upset, so expect a close affair that will be decided on the third map.

?MAD Lions enter the opening round of qualifiers straight off an awe-inspiring run through BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2021, where they came only one win short of winning their bracket. They did well enough to defeat two struggling giants in Evil Geniuses and G2 Esports to improve their record in October to 11-3.

Entropiq hold a slightly worse 11-5 record on the month and are also 4-2 across their last six outings, with defeats against FunPlus Phoenix (12-16) and 9z Team (1-2).

Even though we have to take MAD Lions’ wins against EG and G2 with a grain of salt, they shouldn’t be such big underdogs for this bout. Entropiq are a solid team, but the CS:GO betting odds should be much closer to even money, which presents us with a great value bet on the outsiders.

?With the addition of Owen “smooya” Butterfield, Fnatic now field a team that looks very strong. The British AWPer has not needed long to prove his worth at Fnatic, helping them win eight maps with a positive rating in all but one.

While the addition of smooya makes Fnatic stronger talent-wise, synergy could be a problem, at least for a few more weeks. This makes it very hard to justify a bet on Fnatic at $1.38, and it’s even harder to believe that they can defeat Eternal Fire in straight maps.

The Turkish superteam has also freshened up the roster by adding Yasin “xfl0ud” Ko? as a replacement for Issa “ISSAA” Murad. Although not a massive upgrade, it should improve team communication.

Talent-wise, Fnatic are in a much better spot, but they’re still shaky on their feet. Eternal Fire likely won’t win, but they should force a close match.

ForZe enter this match on a three-game winning streak; however, they’re 4-7 across their last 11 outings. What’s more, their four wins over that stretch came against Team BLINK (3-2), AVE (2-0), Trasko Esports (2-0), and K23 (16-13), which isn’t exactly spectacular.

Team GamerLegion are 10-5 across October and 3-2 in their last five outings, with losses against Fnatic (6-16) and PACT (14-16) and three wins against Illuminar Gaming (16-7), SAW (16-8) and Meta4Pro (16-11). So while Alfred “RuStY” Karlsson and his crew have proven that they can be competitive, they’ve only looked good against much weaker teams.

ForZe can easily slip and lose a map, but there’s an equal chance that they close it out in straight maps.

DreamHack Open December 2020

?Nemiga Gaming enter the opening round of DreamHack Open December 2020 with only one win from their last five outings and four consecutive losses against Gambit Esports (0-2), Illuminar (1-2), G2 Esports (0-2) and North (1-2). Saw have managed a slightly better 3-2 record which includes back-to-back losses against ENDPOINT (1-2) and Sprout (0-2).

Regardless of sAw’s two-game losing streak, the odds offered on Christopher “MUTiRiS” Fernandes and co. seem a bit high considering Nemiga can be inconsistent even when facing teams of similar quality to sAw. Additionally, sAw swept Nemiga in their most recent clash in November, so they definitely have a higher than 40.2% chance of success.

?The esports betting odds heavily favour Gambit Esports over Movistar Riders, and we don’t see a problem with that. Even though this is an online match where upsets are fairly common, the quality gap between these two sides makes it hard to expect any surprises.

Gambit enter this match with a 9-1 record from their last 10 outings. Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov and co. lost only to Astralis (0-2) in that run and took a few big scalps when they bested Team Spirit (3-1), Cloud9 (2-0) and Complexity (2-0). If those results are any indication of Gambit’s strength, this should be an easy 2-0 win for the Russian side.

?These Russian Counter-Strike: Global Offensive derbies often go down to the wire, and we don’t believe that will change on Thursday. Although ESPADA are in better shape, that does not mean much when forZe know all of their strengths and weaknesses.

ForZe are 2-1 up in the head-to-head with ESPADA, so there is some value in siding with the outsiders. However, due to their shaky form, we will settle for slightly lower odds and predict a three-map series.

Movistar Liga Pro Gaming Final Series

?Team Unknown and beastcoast will clash in the Movistar Liga Pro Gaming Final Series Group A winners’ match, which will mark their second meeting of the year. They previously tied 1-1 during Realms Collide: The Burning Darkness at the end of November.

Beastcoast have since played five games and won only two. While they dealt with 4Fun (2-1) and 4Zoomers (2-0), they were far less successful against EgoBoys (0-2), Omega Gaming (0-2) and Thunder Predator (1-2). During that time, Team Unknown played out nine games and produced a 4-2-3 record.

The Dota 2 betting odds suggest beastcoast should win this match with ease, but we don’t feel like [em_geo_odds val=1.4] is a fair price. Team Unknown offers far more value as the outsiders.

Overwatch Contenders 2020: The Gauntlet

?These teams last met way back in May 2020 during the third week of Korean Overwatch Contenders 2020 Season 1, where Gen.G edged out a 3-2 win. A lot of time has passed since, so it’s not wise to put too much weight on that result.

Although not as dominant as they used to be in the Overwatch APEX days, Runaway are now one of the strongest Korean Overwatch Contenders teams. Normally, we would predict Gen.G to win at least one map, but we don’t believe they will manage that feat after the departure of Jun-sun “Haeim” Hwang and former Runaway coach Jae-dong “nOrU” Kim last week.

Esports multi bet tips for Thursday, December 10

Dallas Fuel Complete Overwatch Rebuild

The Dallas Fuel have been on an extensive rebuild of their Overwatch squad, and it appears they have signed their final player to round out the team. Ki-hyo “Xzi” Jung is the last piece of their puzzle, and he will join forces with his former Paris Eternal teammates.

Xzi has proven himself to be an impeccable player in the past, but only time will tell if this roster can work together to pull the Fuel through the rankings. It is too early to say whether this latest acquisition to have an effect on the team’s odds at Overwatch betting sites.

Asia esports news

Hyhy Comes Out of Dota 2 Retirement

Benedict Lim “Hyhy” Han Yong has announced his return to the world of Dota 2 esports. This marks the second time he’s coming out of retirement, and we’re excited to see what he will bring to the game.

The Singaporean is yet to sign to a team but has joined the Emerge agency, which helps esports players find a job. Regardless of where he finds a new home, HyHy will surely shift their odds across Dota2 bookmakers. One of his most significant accomplishments was landing the third position at The International 2011.

Africa esports news

ATK Arena Host Successful Fortnite Solos

Over the weekend, South Africa’s ATK Arena hosted a Fortnite Solo tournament, open to fans and professionals alike. The total prize pool was R10,000, and it proved a massive success. The regular events that ATK host give us an insight on up-and-coming talent.

With the results in, the top player was Goliath Gaming’s Travis, which many South African betting sites predicted. He is one of the leading Fortnite players in the country, both when he’s playing on a team and individually.

Europe esports news

Gambit Dominate DreamHack Open qualifying

Gambit Esports came out on top of the recent DreamHack Open European Qualifier.In a field of more than 200 Counter-Strike teams, the Danish side left the contest as number one as they cruised through the single-elimination bracket without losing a map.

Thus far, only three other teams have a spot at the eight-team tournament. KOVA, out of the Finnish Telia Esports Series Three, have secured their place alongside Apeks, who were the winners of the Norwegian league, and Flowskola, who came through the Swedish qualifiers.

South America esports news

CS: GO Heavyweights to Clash in Flow Fire League

Infinity Esports, ranked 162nd in the world, are set to meet the Peruvian Supremacy eSports team on Wednesday, November 18th.

The Flow Fire League features best-of-three contests and a grand final. Supremacy have won four of their last five matches, beating Infinity once and losing to them once.

The winner will go through to the regionals. The first prize at the regional finals is US $3000, with second place settling for $1,500.

Oceania esports news

Australia down Philippines at FIBA Esports Open II

E-Gilas Pilipinas, the Philippines national esports team, left many fans disappointed despite being installed as NBA 2K betting favorites for their clash with Australia in the grand final of the Oceania & Southeast Asia conference at the FIBA Esports Open II.

They initially wowed spectators with their dominant performance in the elimination rounds. However, their luck fell short as they fell to their knees when facing the Aussies in the conference decider.

Australia’s team clinched second spot during the group stage, but they brought all of their might to the final and clinched the conference title with a 2-0 series win.

Nine to Five #5

Galaxy Racer have taken quite a few scalps recently and enter this bout with a 7-3 record in their last 10 outings. Giants Gaming have had their flashes of greatness as well, but overall their showings have been far less convincing.

Galaxy Racer are in better form and hold a better win percentage on five out of seven maps, but that does not necessarily mean this will be a blowout. This will be their first meeting with Giants, and that element of the unknown could pose a problem.

Clean sweeps are not tii common at this level of play. While Galaxy Racer are the most likely victors, they’re not consistent enough for us to believe they can cover the handicap. Expect Giants to put up a fight and steal at least one map.

Intel Extreme Masters XV New York Online – CIS

We last saw HellRaisers and Gambit Esports in action on Sunday when they played out their third-round fixtures. HellRaisers got smashed by Team Spirit with 4-16 on Inferno and 5-16 on Overpass, while Gambit locked in a very important 2-0 win over Winstrike Team.

Considering the very iffy level of play HellRaisers have been showing, we don’t have a problem with the odds favouring Gambit so heavily. HR have not shown any improvement since Gambit (then Gambit Youngsters) swept them in August, so we have to trust Abay “Hobbit” Khassenov to hand his former employer another 0-2 loss.

It’s difficult to be overly excited about Nemiga Gaming following their close series with Ethereal (16-11, 16-13), but we have even less confidence in Winstrike Team. Not only did Winstrike manage a mere 15 rounds against Gambit last time out, they also kneeled to HellRaisers (1-2) and lost one map against Ethereal (2-1).

Despite their less-than-convincing display against Ethereal, Nemiga are still the only team in the group that came close to derailing Team Spirit. They might be a hit-or-miss proposition, but that is not an excuse to have them priced so high against one of the worst-performing teams at the tournament.

DreamHack Open Fall 2020

Team Vitality and Ninjas in Pyjamas will clash in the DreamHack Open Fall quarter-finals in their first meeting since September, when Vitality reverse-swept (2-1) NiP in the first round of ESL Pro League Season 12 Europe. Since then, Vitality have played 11 games and won six, while NiP have three wins in nine games.

NiP hold a rather poor 40% win rate across the last three months, which is significantly lower than Vitality’s 61.1%. However, that does not guarantee the French squad will walk away unharmed.

Vitality looked very iffy in their win against Fnatic (2-1), which leads us to believe they can drop at least one map against any top-tier team. The odds offered on the Swedes at the +1.5 handicap are a bit too short, so we have to go for the overs as the next best thing.

AfreecaTV Starleague Season 10

Park “Soma” Sang Hyun and Jang “Snow” Yoon Chul have met more than 70 times in competitive play, which means we are likely in for a close bout. The latest StarCraft II betting odds somewhat confirm that, but we expected Snow to be priced slightly lower.

Despite what the odds suggest, Snow should have an advantage in this bout because the current meta favours Protoss players. While his PvZ (Protoss v Zerg) performances are still a bit questionable, Snow has shown enough improvement in that department for us to believe he can take down the favourite.

DreamHack Open Fall 2020

Team Vitality finished their IEM New York campaign in third-fourth place, and they will now look to build on that success at DreamHack Open Fall. Vitality’s opening fixture is against mousesports, who defeated them in the ESL Pro League Season 12 Europe group stage just a couple of weeks ago.

Mousesports, while not as strong as they were in 2019, look quite decent despite the departure of ?zgür “woxic” Eker. They finished fourth in the ESL Pro League, where they lost only to the two finalists in Natus Vincere (1-2) and Astralis (1-2).

Vitality (4th) are ranked higher than mousesports (15th) but have shown a lack of consistency in recent weeks. Mouz have the tools to deal with them, we will gladly take the odds on the outsiders.

These teams last met on Sunday in the semi-finals of Intel Extreme Masters XV New York Online Europe, where OG defeated Fnatic with 16-13 on Train, 11-16 on Inferno and 16-9 on Mirage. The latest CS:GO betting odds suggest OG are poised to do it again, but that is far from guaranteed.

Despite OG’s success at IEM New York, we are not convinced they should be priced at such short odds. They looked very scrappy in their 0-3 grand finals loss to FaZe Clan and will likely struggle to outshine Fnatic.

Even though the Swedes can be hit-or-miss at times, they’re more than capable of defeating OG. At the offered odds, it makes much more sense to back the outsiders.

ESL One Germany 2020

Vikin.gg started their ESL One Germany campaign with a narrow win against HellRaisers (2-1) but failed to show up against OG (0-2). Meanwhile, 5men lost 0-2 loss to Ninjas in Pyjamas and won 2-0 against EXTREMUM.

Vikin.gg have met with 5men three times since September, winning two series and losing one, yet even that was more of a fluke loss than anything else. While their results this competition have not been spectacular, the same holds true for 5men and their showings.

Neither side is in good form, so it’s safe to expect an open match with all three maps played. Alternatively, a bet on Vikin.gg to win 2-1 can be considered.

At the end of September, Natus Vincere decided to trial FlyToMoon’s roster. That proved to be a good move as NaVi finished fourth at OGA Dota PIT, where they managed to defeat OG (2-1) but were eliminated by eventual finalists VP.Prodigy (1-2).

NaVi carried over some of that momentum into ESL One Germany, where they swept Cyber Legacy (2-0) but narrowly lost to Team Liquid (1-2). Winstrike Team have produced far less inspiring results, with a humiliating 0-2 loss to OG and a narrow win over HellRaisers (2-1).

Winstrike bested FlyToMoon’s roster in June during the Parimatch League Season 3 Round Robin. However, they’ve lost many key players since then, so we don’t believe Winstrike will manage to repeat that feat on this occasion.

League of Legends World Championship

This fixture is billed as the most one-sided match of the 2020 LoL World Championship quarter-finals. However, that does not necessarily mean we are in for a 3-0 sweep.

Fnatic are renowned for their fast decision-making, deep champion pool and solid team-fighting. What’s more, they field one of the best-performing junglers in Oskar “Selfmade” Boderek, a very potent bottom-lane duo, one of the best laning mid-laners in Tim “Nemesis” Lipov?ek and a very stable weak-side top lane.

That does not take away from the fact that Top Esports have stronger individual pieces, but they – like many other Chinese teams – tend to draft for lanes rather than team-fighting compositions. Could that turn around and bite them?

We are not expecting Fnatic to defeat Top Esports, but there is definitely a chance the Europeans can win at least one map. The safe play is the +2.5 handicap on Fnatic, but there is value in backing Top to win 3-1.

All set for CS:GO DreamHack Masters Winter qualifiers

The DreamHack Masters Winter 2020 season begins this week, with North America as the opening region. From October 2 to October 3, contestants can participate in the open qualifier. The top four will proceed to the closed qualifier on October 4, and the top two from there will progress to the main event.

Four teams are invited to the closed qualifier, with CS:GO betting sites favoring Team Liquid to take the winning position. However, the odds can change as we learn about who’ll make it through qualifying and who the remaining invitees are.

Asia esports news

China Dota2 Pro Cup playoffs continue

Esports fans in China are eagerly awaiting the Dota2 Pro Cup grand finals, which are scheduled for October 3. Before then, we’ll get to enjoy the lower-bracket battles between Royal Never Give Up, Phoenix Gaming, LBZS, and EHOME.

Royal Never Give Up are the favorites at Dota 2 sportsbooks as they’ve delivered consistent performances through their last few matches. Phoenix Gaming have had a good run but lost to a couple of opponents that RNG dominated. RNG were also victorious in their previous encounter with Phoenix Gaming.

In the second battle of the first round, EHOME are the sportsbooks’ favorites. After they reshuffled their roster, we’ve seen improved performances. EHOME’s strategies are fresh, leaving their opponents unable to analyze what’s coming.

Africa esports news

FIFA 21 For Charity

Two of Goliath Gaming’s top FIFA esports players will participate in an exhibition match where the winnings will go towards a charity of their choosing. Thabo “Yvng Savage” Moloi and Julio “Beast” Bianchi, who’ve won numerous local competitions and participated in global tournaments, will play on October 10.

Whoever wins will donate their R10,000 to a charity of their choice, and the runner-up will receive R5,000 for their cause. The best-of-three clash will be an intense one as the two know each other’s strategies well and are among the top players in the country.

South African sportsbooks have the odds in Yvng Savage’s favor. According to last season’s standings, he ranks first on PS4 in South Africa and 73rd globally. He’s got a bright future in the game and was Red Bull’s first African esports athlete.

Europe esports news

Astralis on fire in CS:GO ESL Pro League

Astralis are looking to continue their winning streak as they face Heroic in their upcoming ESL Pro League clash. They’ve dominated this matchup on several occasions, with Heroic’s last victory coming in February 2018. Astralis have become an unstoppable force lately, and it’s clear to see they’re Heroic’s kryptonite.

It’s unlikely Heroic will defeat Astralis for a spot in the upper-bracket semi-finals on October 1. Esports betting sites are backing Astralis in this encounter.

South America esports news

Key battles in round four of Tribo To Major

Round four of the Tribo To Major is upon us with three battles taking place. BOOM Esports and Sharks Esports are on equal standings at the top of the table, and both are favorites to win their upcoming matches. Both sides have won all three of their games so far and will only face each other in round five later in the week.

Of the three matches taking place, the battle between Keyd Stars and Isurus will be the closest. Both teams are on equal footing and match up well. Isurus are still adjusting to their recent roster change; however, they’ve won one of their battles so far, whereas Keyd are yet to prevail.

Oceania esports news

Top two set to clash in Oceanic Esports League

It’s a battle between the two on the top of the ladder as Adio Chula and cuteanimegirls face off in week nine. It’s going to be a tough match for Adio Chula as they look to take the number one position from cuteanimegirls, but they might not have what it takes.

Australian sportsbooks favor cuteanimegirls, who’ve dominated the tournament so far. Adio Chula are fair competitors, however, and the last match between these sides in a draw.

Team Liquid to face MAD Lions at LoL Worlds

Team Liquid will close off the first day of the League of Legends World Championship play-in stage against the MAD Lions. LoL betting sites are favouring the Europeans to win this battle, but things may change after they play INTZ in the opening game of the tournament.

Liquid were playing reasonably well until they lost their last two matches against Team Solomid and FlyQuest. MAD Lions, on the other end, are on a three-game winning streak.

Asia esports news

BOOM and TNC to renew hostilities in BTS Pro Series

Boom Esports and TNC Predator will battle it out once again in the Dota 2 BTS Pro Series. The old foes have had a couple of games against each other, the last of which ended in a draw. BOOM haven’t shown much consistency lately, which is why the odds are against them at most esports betting sites.

TNC have the advantage here; they’ve seen more victories when they face Boom (13 of 19), and they tend to take the lead comfortably. However, the pressure will be on as they battle it out to secure a spot in the upper-bracket final against Among Us.

Africa esports news

Comic-Con Africa goes online

This weekend will be the biggest Comic-Con in Africa to date. Many fans were in fear of missing out on the events this year, but Comic-Con has gone virtual. Around 6,000 fans are expected to attend the online event, where they can watch and interact with their favorite comic book artists, voice actors, and esports shoutcasters.

Among the many exciting panels and activities for the weekend, the one most are excited about is the Magic: The Gathering tournament. The Easy Gaming Group have put up a larger prize pool than any before in Africa for the event.

Europe esports news

DreamHack Open Fall Closed Qualifier Final

After an excellent display from both sides in round three, Sprout and North will meet once again in the DreamHack Open Fall Closed Qualifier. North won each of their last three meetings, yet Counter-Strike betting sites are swinging the odds in the other direction for the final.

This time, Sprout are on a winning streak, and it looks as though nothing will stand in their way. We reckon that it’ll be a close battle, as North will push to keep their impressive record over Sprout.

Latin America esports news

Rainbow7 ready to kick off LoL Worlds campaign

In more LoL Championship matches, Rainbow7 will fight against PSG Talon in their opening game in Shanghai. They were the first group to arrive in China for the mandatory 14-day isolation period.

Being the first means they’ve had the most time to practice in the environment and get comfortable in the settings. They’ve also won all their recent encounters on the Rift.

PSG Talon started as the favorites with online sportsbooks, but the odds are slowly changing against them. They’ve got a terrible habit of falling into a rut after a loss. In their last game, they were defeated by Machi Esports 3-0.

Oceania esports news

100 Thieves representing in NA

The 100 Thieves roster consists entirely of Australian CS:GO players, yet they compete in the ESL Pro League North America series. This week they will go head-to-head with Team Liquid in the lower-bracket final.

Liquid defeated 100T in eight of their last 10 games, and comfortably in most of them. However, the Aussie side did win against FURIA, who Liquid have struggled to beat.

It looks like it’ll be a close battle, with sportsbooks leaning towards Team Liquid. 100 Thieves may not be at their best due to the latest rumors that their coach, Chet “ImAPet” Singh, wants to leave to pursue a career in VALORANT.

NORTH VS FORZE CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS

NORTH VS FORZE DREAMHACK OPEN ANAHEIM 2020 BETTING PREVIEW

North and forZe will clash on the battlefield this Friday in the opening match of Group A at DreamHack Open Anaheim.

ForZe will enter the second DreamHack Open event of the year looking to repeat their success from December, when they hoisted the DreamHack Winter 2019 title. However, the field awaiting them in Anaheim is significantly stronger, and a strong start is vital if Andrey “Jerry” Mekhryakov and company are serious about pocketing the top prize of US $50,000 and a ticket for DreamHack Masters J?nk?ping.

ForZe have produced a mixed bag of results since the turn of the year. They put up a commanding run at the DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020 European Qualifier, defeating the likes of Winstrike (2-1), CR4ZY (2-0) and Heroic (2-0) to pocket a ticket for the Anaheim event. ForZe also appeared in the United Masters League Season 2 playoffs, where they defeated Hard Legion Esports (2-0) in the quarter-finals but fell short against the eventual champions, Copenhagen Flames (1-2), in the semi-finals.

At the start of February, the Russian quintet also tested their luck at European open qualifiers for the inaugural season of the newly formed FLASHPOINT CS:GO league. They failed to make it far, however, as they lost the opening match against Team Unique (7-16).

GG Bet

150%

Get €5 freebet!

18+ Gamble responsibly. Min deposit after code activation for freebet is €10. 1x turnover requirement. 14 days expiry. Max funds transferred to real balance is €5.

read review Bet Now

BetOnline

$5,000

50% matched deposit up to USD $5,000

read review Bet Now

Betway

￡30

€30 Welcome Free Bet

New UK & Ireland customers only. Min Deposit: ￡10. First deposit matched up to ￡30. 1 x wagering at odds of 1.75+ to unlock Free Bet. Debit Card & PayPal deposits only. This offer is valid for 7 days from your new account being registered. T&Cs Apply

read review Bet Now

North will hope for an upturn in fortunes in Anaheim following their underwhelming display at DreamHack Open Leipzig 2020. North started strong in Germany with a 16-4 win over Sprout but hit a wall against MAD Lions (10-16) and were then humiliated by Heroic, who reverse-swept them with a 16-2 on the third and final map.

Prior to their shaky display in Leipzig, North appeared at IEM Katowice World Championship European Open Qualifier #2, where they came close to securing a ticket for the closed qualifiers but fell flat in the finals. Although Markus “Kjaerbye” Kj?rbye and his squad enjoyed commanding wins over FiVe (16-8), Nemiga (16-12) and Gambit Youngsters (16-8), MAD Lions (8-16, 4-16) proved to be big a hurdle to overcome.

North have made a couple of changes to their roster since the Katowice qualifiers. In-game leader Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen returned in mid-January to replace Jakob “JUGi” Hansen, while Jimmy “Jumpy” Berndtsson took over as head coach from Torbj?rn “mithR” Nyborg earlier this month.

NORTH VS FORZE DREAMHACK OPEN ANAHEIM 2020 BETTING PREDICTIONS

This will be a best-of-one (Bo1) fixture, meaning it can go either way; however, most esports bookmakers seem to agree North have a slightly better chance of claiming the spoils.

North arguably have more individual quality in their squad, but their new core has played less than five maps together in the last month. For that reason, it is hard to say whether this team has had enough time to gel.

ForZe’s squad is averaging a 1.096 rating over the past three months. North sit at 1.058 over the same period, so the form lines are quite similar.

Looking at the map pools, North hold a better win rate on Dust II (100%-50%) and Nuke (75%-50%). ForZe have the advantage on Mirage (78%-67%) and Train (86%-0%), while they have played 13 games to North’s one on Inferno and are on a five-map winning streak.

Despite their high ambitions for the 2020 season, North’s recent results suggest they have a long way to go to crack into the top bracket of CS:GO teams. They might find their footing in a couple of months, but forZe are much more appealing as the outsiders for Friday’s clash.

Tricked Esports vs Gambit Youngsters

Friday, December 13 – 12:30 CET

After claiming second place at DreamHack Open Winter, Tricked Esports ($1.40) will look to keep their wheels spinning in Sevilla when they face Gambit Youngsters ($2.77) in the opening match of the group stage.

Tricked have been on the rise recently, ascending from 70th spot in the CS:GO global rankings back in March to 20th as of December 9, 2019.

Looking back at Tricked’s venture in DreamHack Open Winter, Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen and co. defeated forZe (16-10) and FURIA (16-14) in the group stage, to which they added a convincing 2-0 win against CR4ZY in the semi-finals. Unfortunately, Tricked ran out of steam in the grand finals, where they lost 1-2 to forZe.

SEE ALSO: COUNTER-STRIKE BETTING SITES

Gambit Youngsters’ most recent tournament was the EPICENTER 2019: CIS Qualifier, where they started off strong and defeated both Syman Gaming (2-0) and MELBET (2-0) to secure a spot in the grand finals. However, just like their next opponents, Gambit ran out of gas when it mattered and had to admit defeat to forZe (0-2).

GambitY have not played a single competitive match since that event ended on November 24, which does raise some questions as to whether they are ready to perform this Friday.

Tricked and GambitY have met twice in 2019. Their first meeting came at the Copenhagen Games in April, when Tricked won 2-1. The second clash came at WePlay! Forge of Masters Season 2 last month, where Tricked saluted again with a 16-7 win.

Tricked are the superior team here and should come out of this bout victorious with at least four rounds to spare.

Prediction: Tricked -3.5 – $1.75 at GG Bet

GODSENT vs Illuminar Gaming

Friday, December 13 – 15:30 CET

The second fixture of the day will feature GODSENT ($1.50) locking horns with Illuminar Gaming ($2.45) for the very first time.

GODSENT will arrive at Sevilla fresh from a third-fourth finish at DreamHack Open Winter, where the former SMASH roster put up a very solid run but came up short in the semi-finals against eventual champions forZe. Since then, GODSENT have lost to Hard Legion Esports (1-2) at United Masters League Season 2 and defeated Nemiga (2-1) at SECTOR: MOSTBET, meaning they head to Spain with a 3-2 record in their last five.

Illuminar Gaming have had much more success in their recent fixtures. They triumphed at ESL Mistrzostwa Polski – Fall 2019 and then claimed the gold medal at WESG 2019 East Europe after defeating AGO (2-1) for the second time that week, thus extending their winning streak to nine games.

SEE ALSO: BEST ESPORTS BOOKMAKERS

As these two sides have not yet met on the battlefield, all we have to work with is their performances against other teams.

While GODSENT produced a weaker run over the course of the last month, they were facing much tougher opponents compared to Illuminar. We must also take into consideration the individual performances of the players, where GODSENT come out ahead.

Over the course of the last three months, GODSENT’s players averaged a 1.07 rating, while Illuminar’s roster averaged 1.02, with two of their players averaging less than 1.00. Again, we have to factor in that GODSENT’s roster reached the higher rating against tougher opponents.

Good form is without a doubt a huge factor, especially in best-of-one (Bo1) fixtures, but GODSENT should prove too tough of a nut to crack for Illuminar. GODSENT lose 9.48 rounds on average when they win and Illuminar win 9.47 per map when they lose, so the numbers suggest the favourites should cover the 3.5-round line.

Prediction: GODSENT -3.5 – $1.98 at GG Bet