Our Esports betting guru Michael Lee is back for his best bets from around the Esports world for Monday, November 23rd. Today, we head to the ESEA Advanced Season 35 Europe, as well as the Nine to Five Cup 6.
ESports Betting Tips: Monday, November 23rd
Winstrike vs Budapest Five
ESEA Advanced Season 35 Europe
Winstrike will enter this match with their coach Dmitry "hooch" Bogdanov as a stand-in for Vladyslav "bondik" Nechyporchuk, which is obviously not optimal, especially if we consider that bondik is one of Wistrike's best players with 1.10 HLTV rating across the last three months.
Winstrike have played four matches with hooch so far and managed to win three against Lilmix, Izako Boars and LDLC, but lost to the Movistar Riders. Their recent results are not exactly terrible, however, I am a bit concerned with poor performances from hooch and Aidyn "KrizzeN" Turlybekov.
Due to KrizzeN's and hooch's poor form, I can't agree with bookmakers who have Winstrike priced as the favourites, since I expect them to struggle against Budapest Five unless their two weakest links improve. At this point, it's also worth mentioning that WInstrike dropped maps against Izako Boars and Lilmix, and have also lost to a semi-pro team 100PingGods earlier this month.
Budapest Five have lost only one match at the ESEA Advanced Season 35 Europe against Real Betis, but have since bounced back and picked up four consecutive wins against Wygers, Izako Boars, hREDS and Lyngby Vikings. The Hungarian squad have also won 53.8% of their matches across the last three months and even though most of their wins came against weaker teams, B5’s solid run should at least give them some sort of morale boost.
I believe Budapest Five can win here, but this still seems like a match that could be very close. Expect a close series with all three maps played!
Nexus vs Giants
Nine to Five 6
Nexus have lost only one match in their last five against Lyngby Vikings but had no real issues defeating the likes of HellRaisers, 9INE, SG.pro and Heretics. On the other side, we have Giants who enter this match with a nine-game winning streak. This run includes wins against Copenhagen Flames, Cyber Legacy, ALTERNATE aTTaX, Nexus and LDLC.
Nexus and Giants last met just a couple of days ago during the Cyber.Bet Golden League 2020, where Giants claimed a clean sweep win with 16-9 on Dust2 and 16-9 on Inferno. Rui "RIZZZ" Lima was the man to watch with 48 frags and an amazing 1.50 HLTV rating which was far above any other player on the server, including Nexus's best-performing individual Adrian "XELLOW" Guț, who ended the series with 35 frags and a 1.00 HLTV rating.
There is no real reason to have Giants priced as the underdogs for this match. Not only have they already beaten Nexus, but are also in great form, which is why siding with Giants is a no-brainer pick in my book. Since this can still turn out to be a close match, a +4.5 maps bet on Giants is a safer option, although I would not be surprised to see Giants walk away with another 2-0 sweep.
Ninjas in Pyjamas vs Gambit
EPIC League Division 2
Ninjas in Pyjamas and Gambit have not met in 2020 yet, which is because Gambit only recent re-entered the Dota2 scene with a new roster featuring Anton "yy" Shkredov, Artem "Lorenof" Melnik, Andrey "meLes" Romanov, Danial "XSvamp1Re" Alibaev and Albert "eine" Garaev. Since Gambit formed their new roster, they have played only five games and produced a 3-2 record.
Across the last couple of weeks, Gambit have beaten Team Unique (2-0), Cyberium (2-1) and Winstrike (2-1), but lost to mudgolems (1-2) and Tempo Esports (1-2), which is not good nor is it particularly bad. Ninjas in Pyjamas, meanwhile played five games at EPIC League and won three against Cyberium (2-0), Nemiga Gaming (2-0) and Team Empire (2-0), but struggled to impress against Winstrike (0-2) and Yellow Submarine (1-2).
Form-wise, there is not a lot to separate the two sides. Ninjas in Pyjamas might have stronger synergy since they have been playing together for over six months, but that does not convince me they should be priced as the favourites. Expect to see all three maps played.
Spider Pigz vs Live to Win
EPIC League Division 2
Spider Pigz (formerly Tempo Esports) have already beaten Winstrike (2-0) and Team Empire (2-0) which sits them in the upper part of the EPIC League standings as the only team in the field with a perfect record. That, however, hardly means anything in the greater picture, given that they have yet to face any tough opponents.
Live to Win enter this match with a 1-1 record at EPIC League which includes a win over Winstrike (2-1) and a loss against Yellow Submarine (0-2). Even though their showings were not spectacular, we can't ignore Live to Win have previously beaten Tempo Esports (2-0) during the EPIC League qualifiers and have also crushed 5men (2-0) and Ninjas in Pyjamas (2-1).
Live to Win are priced at around 1.70 to win this match, which seems a bit high considering they have already beaten Tempo Esports (2-0) under two weeks ago. Alternatively, a -1.5 map handicap bet on Live to Win can be considered.
Value: Live to Win -1.5 Maps ($2.95)
