?ForZe freshened up their CS:GO esports division in October and have since looked improved. However, they hit a bit of a rough patch at the end of November when they finished Pinnacle Fall Series #3 in ninth-12th place.

Entropiq have made a name for themselves in the second half of the year and were particularly impressive in November when reaching the finals of V4 Future Sports Festival Budapest 2021. Across the last four tournaments, Entropiq have placed third or better at all but Funspark ULTI 2021 Europe Season 4, where they were knocked out in the quarter-finals.

ForZe have shown they can compete with the best, but Entropiq look way too good heading into this bout. Entropiq to win at $1.53 is a safe bet, but we’re taking the favourites with a 2.5-round handicap.

?Sinners Esports have managed only one win from their last four outings and lost both of their previous two, going down to Eternal Fire (7-16) and Sharks Esports (0-2). Anonymo Esports have been just as unconvincing with only one win across their last five, and even that was a 16-14 victory against OPAA Gaming.

The only positive result Anonymo have produced of late was a three-map series against Team GamerLegion (1-2) at the start of the month. So not only are Anonymo in worse shape than Sinners, but they also lost their star player, Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski, last Thursday.

This is Sinners Esports’ game to lose, and unless we see them flop, the Czech squad should close it out with at least three rounds to spare.

?Ex-FURY haven’t achieved much of late – they’re 0-2 after two rounds of play, with defeats against ORDER (0-2) and Hazard Esports (0-2). However, while their record is poor, Joshua “bandit” Peck and his crew played well against ORDER two weeks back and came close to winning one map against Hazard Esports (14-16 on Inferno) at the start of the month.

VERTEX are 3-2 from their last five, including two ESEA fixtures – a 0-2 defeat against ORDER and a 2-0 sweep of yellow. So while VERTEX have looked better than ex-FURY, their performances don’t justify the offered CS:GO betting odds.

Even though VERTEX won this bout (2-0) at the end of October, they needed overtime on Mirage (19-16) and had to win the second half on Nuke with 10-4 to edge out a 16-13 win. So it doesn’t make much sense for ex-FURY to be priced at $10.09.

A smaller position on ex-FURY to cause an upset offers solid value, but we’re satisfied with the betting odds we’re getting on the outsiders with a map advantage.

?Kanga Esports and Dynasty Esports Club aren’t expected to win this tournament and so far, neither have managed to prove otherwise. Kanga are 1-2, while Dynasty are 2-1 after three weeks of action.

Still, the esports bookmakers believe that Dynasty have a much better chance of winning, which might seem fair, but we disagree with the price. Kanga are 1-4 across their last five, but their four defeats came against Paradox Esports, LookingForOrg, VERTEX Esports Club, and FURY. Meanwhile, Dynasty’s only two wins of their last five (2-3) came against Alke and Sylyx (now yellow).

There isn’t a lot to separate these two teams talent-wise, and it would make much more sense to see them priced closer to even money. Dynasty are rightly the favourites, but $1.83 on Kanga with a map handicap is too good to pass on.

?ForZe will clash with Anonymo Esports this Friday in what promises to be a straightforward win for the Russian squad. But while forZe have achieved far more than the Poles in 2021, their recent results leave a lot to be desired.

ForZe enter this match with a 2-2 record from their last four, including wins against Double Poney (2-0) and K23 (2-0) and losses to MAD Lions (1-2) and BIG (1-2). If we look further back, the world no.24 CS:GO esports team won against ENCE (2-1) and Team Spirit (2-0) but lost against Team GamerLegion (1-2), Team Finest (1-2), and ENCE (0-2).

Anonymo Esports are 4-2 across their last six, and while they haven’t won against any notable teams, they are at least winning games. Despite their less-than-convincing performances of late, forZe should win, but we have a hard time believing they can do it in straight maps.

?TYLOO extended their stay in Europe following their early exit from PGL Major Stockholm 2021 last month, where they managed only one win (16-14 vs Sharks Esports) from four New Challengers Stage bouts. However, on a more positive note, the Chinese squad put up a solid fight against eventual semi-finalists Heroic (12-16).

Team Finest enter this match on an eight-game win streak, including clean sweeps in all of their last five. While an impressive record, it’s worth noting that Finest haven’t faced any strong teams.

As good as Finest have been, playing a Chinese team such as TYLOO is never easy, mainly because no team outside of Asia knows how to prepare for them. It’s also worth noting that all five TYLOO players are in exceptional form, averaging a +1.11 rating across the last three months.

This is a risky bet, but TYLOO with a -1.5 map handicap at $3.97 offers great value. Even though Finest have not been beaten in eight outings, TYLOO are an unknown quantity and better than what the latest CS:GO odds suggest.

?Team GamerLegion enter this match with only two wins from their last seven outings; those came against forZe (2-1) and Sinners Esports (2-1), both during the DreamHack Open 2021 qualifiers in late October. Since then, GamerLegion have lost four in a row, including ESEA Season 39 bouts against Sinners and Team Finest as well as two fixtures against BIG and MOUZ during the DreamHack Open.

Anonymo Esports have a higher win rate, with four wins from their last six (4-2), although three of those victories came against semi-pro teams in Dolej Midou (16-2) and Team ESCA Gaming (16-6, 16-6). They last faced GamerLegion in September, winning 2-0; however, if their performances against Double Poney (1-2) and Wisla Krakow (1-2) earlier this month are any indication, Anonymo might struggle to replicate that success on Wednesday.

If we had to pick a side, GamerLegion are a better pick at $2.05. But since both teams are struggling somewhat, a bet on over 2.5 maps makes more sense.

?Sprout have not looked too good across the last three months, struggling to achieve much in their competitive endeavours. Once ranked as high as no.21 in the world, Sprout are currently ranked no.61, an all-time low for the German esports organisation.

Team LDLC are in a better spot ranking-wise (no.56), but their success over the last few months has also been fairly limited. The French team’s only notable achievement in the second half of the year has been winning ESL Championnat National Autumn 2021 in October.

LDLC and Sprout last met just a month ago during the 38th season of ESEA Premier, where LDLC won 2-1 with 16-8 on Vertigo, 13-16 on Inferno, and 16-12 on Dust II. The teams have not shown any notable improvement since, so we’re likely in for another three-map series with no clear winner.
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?Copenhagen Flames are expected to crush Nemiga Gaming on Wednesday, and there is nothing that would suggest otherwise. And that’s not necessarily because Nemiga are weak, but mainly because Copenhagen are that much stronger.

The Danes hold an impressive 72% win rate across the last three months and recently attended PGL Major Stockholm 2021, where they finished in a respectable ninth-11th place. The Flames made it through the New Challengers Stage with a perfect 3-0 record, beating Astralis, BIG, and Heroic, and even caused some damage in the New Legends Stage, where they picked up wins against Evil Geniuses and FaZe Clan.

Copenhagen’s only three losses of the PGL Major came against three of the four semi-finalists in Ninjas in Pyjamas, Heroic, and G2 Esports. Considering they have been able to compete with the world’s best CS:GO esports teams, the Flames should not struggle against the likes of Nemiga, who recently lost their star player, Igor “lollipop21k” So?odkov.

?Kanga have yet to play an official match, so they’re somewhat of an enigma; however, we saw their core compete at LPL Challenger League 2021 Season 2 in August under Simplicity, when Daniel “DANZ” Whitfield and co. placed third. Lese Esports have made some roster changes of late, but like Kanga, their core has participated in the LPL Challenger League and finished as runners-up.

Despite their past success, Lese Esports enter this match as underdogs, which makes sense considering they lost against DANZ’s crew in July (1-2), with 16-6 on Inferno, 11-16 on Overpass, and 3-16 on Mirage.

At this level of play, betting on the favourites is rarely a wise option; however, it’s tough to trust the underdogs, who are fresh off a 0-2 defeat against Alke. Kanga Esports to win is a safe bet, but we’ll take a shot on the favourites with a map handicap.
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?Caught off Guard are the reigning LPL Challenger League Season 3 champions and clear betting favourites for this bout. However, while CoG have had their highs, they have slumped to some very low lows, namely last month, when they finished the ESEA’s 38th season of Premier Division in 13th-14th place.

We haven’t seen much from MIRACLE RUN (renamed to Collateral), and while they have done enough to qualify for this tournament, they only had to beat DoMilk (2-0) during the qualifiers last month.

Caught off Guard are a much better team on paper, but they are struggling with their form. On the other side, MIRACLE RUN field a few solid pieces which might lack synergy but have the individual talent to pull off clutch plays.

MIRACLE RUN likely won’t win, but they should be able to cause some damage, and at $2.62, it’s tough to pass on betting on the outsiders with a map advantage.