by ESL Pro League Season 20 continues on Tuesday, September 10, with the opening series of Group C and Group D as the remaining 16 teams begin their quest for a spot in the playoffs. Here, you can find our Counter-Strike betting picks for Fnatic vs Astralis, BIG vs Imperial Esports, Team Liquid vs ENCE, Complexity vs M80, and RED Canids vs Virtus.pro.
FNATIC vs ASTRALIS CS2 BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | Fnatic +229 at BetOnline | Astralis -303.03 at BetOnline |
| When: | September 10, 2024 | 13:30 CEST |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ESLCS) |
Group C at ESL Pro League Season 20 starts with a clash between Astralis and Fnatic, who have yet to face off this season. But even with no head-to-head fixtures, it is easy to see why Astralis are expected to win.
Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz and co. have not won a tournament this year and didn’t make it very far at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2024 in August. However, Astralis have posted promising performances against the world’s elite teams over the last month, which gives hope they are slowly finding momentum.
Fnatic are 2-3 from their last five series, with those wins coming against Cloud9 and OG — hardly world-beaters. Nevertheless, they have shown improvement, and with the talent on this roster, they should be able to make some noise in Malta.
At -153.85 to take a map off Astralis, Fnatic are an obvious choice.
Fnatic +1.5 maps
BIG vs IMPERIAL ESPORTS CS2 BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | BIG -105.26 at BetOnline | Imperial -120.48 at BetOnline |
| When: | September 10, 2024 | 16:30 CEST |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ESLCS) |
Imperial Esports are priced as slight favourites to defeat BIG, who have failed to find much success at the top level this year. On the other side, Imperial have not won any significant titles either, so it is not like the teams’ accomplishments are the main differentiating factor.
The Brazilians are in a much better spot in terms of map pools, with a better win rate on all maps except for Ancient, which is BIG’s second-best map, but it will likely get banned. Imperial also come out ahead on individual form, with all five players averaging a 1.04 performance rating or higher.
Despite all that, we have to consider that Imperial have been playing weaker opponents than BIG of late. Expect a close affair.
Over 2.5 maps
TEAM LIQUID vs ENCE CS2 BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | TL -333.33 at BetOnline | ENCE +247 at BetOnline |
| When: | September 10, 2024 | 16:30 CEST |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ESLCS) |
Team Liquid had an explosive start to IEM Cologne 2024 at the beginning of August but failed to make it past FaZe Clan (twice) and crashed out of the tournament in seventh-eighth place. Prior to that, Liquid won BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2024, and they did well at IEM Dallas 2024, so something is working for this lineup.
Since their former lineup fell apart, ENCE have not come close to winning a single big event. They’ve been particularly disappointing over the last month, with early exits from IEM Rio 2024, Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, and ThunderPick World Championship 2024 qualifiers.
As the latest Counter-Strike esports odds suggest, this should be a one-sided affair. Anything less than a 2-0 sweep would be a major disappointment for Team Liquid.
Team Liquid -1.5 maps
COMPLEXITY vs M80 CS2 BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | COL -344.83 at BetOnline | M80 +254 at BetOnline |
| When: | September 10, 2024 | 19:30 CEST |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ESLCS) |
Complexity beat M80 16-14 in the second round of the Esports World Cup 2024 in July, and they are expected to do just as well on Tuesday. This is unsurprising considering Complexity’s solid performances over the next month, which includes competitive games against the world’s elite teams.
M80 have also shown excellent form throughout August, although most of their wins have come from ESL Challenger League Season 48: North America, where Elias “s1n” Stein and co. faced lesser regional opponents.
Complexity are a more proven team at the top level. However, clashes between regional rivals are often closer than expected, which makes M80 a solid pick to take at least one map.
M80 +1.5 maps
RED CANIDS vs VIRTUS.PRO CS2 BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | RED +315 at BetOnline | VP -454.55 at BetOnline |
| When: | September 10, 2024 | 19:30 CEST |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ESLCS) |
RED Canids are one of the lowest-ranked Counter-Strike teams at ESL Pro League Season 20, and according to the top Counter-Strike betting sites, they are not expected to make it very far. At +315, RED Canids are given a 24.1% implied probability of winning, but they face a Virtus.pro outfit that is not in the best shape.
The Russians are 3-7 from their last 10 outings, with those wins coming against Zero Tenacity, BIG, and the struggling Team Falcons. While that run includes clashes with stronger teams than what RED Canids have had to face, it does not change the fact that Virtus.pro have not been playing well.
RED Canids are in stronger form and have a better win rate on six of the seven maps in the rotation. Even though VP are rightly the favourites, the underdogs should be good for one map.
