Our Esports betting guru Michael Lee is back for his best bets from around the Esports world for Thursday, January 21st. Today, we head to the LCK 2021 Spring and the LPL 2021 Spring for our best bets of the night.
ESports Betting Tips: Thursday, January 21st
T1 vs Gen.G
LCK 2021 Spring
We have got an LCK classic on the menu for Thursday when Gen.G takes on T1 in hopes to secure their third win of the season. Gen.G enter this match as the only undefeated team in the league besides DWG KIA and the only Korean team that has yet to drop a single map.
Despite Gen.G's phenomenal record, we have to consider they have yet to play any tough opponents. In the opening week of the LCK 2021 Spring, Gen.G bested KT Rolster and Fredit BRION, which are not exactly strong teams, so in some way, we have to value T1's record (1-1) higher even though they have only beaten Hanwha Life Esports (2-1) and lost against DWG KIA (1-2).
It's also worth noting that T1 should have won their bout with DWG KIA, where they were arguably the better team. Even though defeat is still a defeat, T1 proved they can compete with the reigning world champions, which tells a lot about how strong this team is.
Based on what we have seen so far, T1 should win this match, but if the previous head-to-head meetings between T1 and Gen.G have taught us anything it's that these fixtures are rarely one-sided. Expect T1 to win 2-1.
ThunderTalk Gaming vs Team WE
LPL 2021 Spring
ThunderTalk Gaming have yet to impress me this season and their recent loss to LNG Esports (1-2) does not convince me otherwise. Outside of their poor gameplay, TT also struggled with their drafts which is a huge problem that can't be fixed overnight, and much of the same holds true for their questionable macro play, which eventually cost them the win on Sunday.
On a more positive note, I was impressed with the performances of SamD, who had an excellent showing and was even confident enough to pick Vayne, which tells a lot about his quality as a player.
Team WE enter this match off a 2-1 win against Invictus Gaming which is fairly impressive, however, it’s important to note that IG looked disjointed in some of the teamfights due to somewhat questionable drafts on their part. The main thing to take away from this match is that it was not so much Team WE’s victory rather than IG's loss, which is something to take into consideration.
Seeing Team WE priced as the favourites makes sense, but not at these odds. The bookmakers seem to overvalue their win over IG, which we have established was more or less handed to them. With that in mind, I like my chances with Team TT to win one map, although I would not expect them to walk away victorious.
Oh My God vs Royal Never Give Up
LPL 2021 Spring
Oh My God lost their most recent bout with eStar in what was one of the worst games of professional LoL I have seen so far this season. Game one was a complete clown fiesta which eventually ended in OMG's victory.
The second game of the series was heavily one-sided in favour of eStar who had a significantly better draft and simply played better, so there is not much to say about that. Game three, however, saw OMG gain a 2k+ gold lead which made it seem like they're on their way to an easy W, but they botched a team fight for the third dragon and from there forward, the game flipped upside down.
Estar won that game, but I don't think it's fair to say either team deserved to win, which basically sums up what I think about OMG's performance on Monday.
Royal Never Give Up's latest game happened last Thursday when they bested the 2020 LoL World Championship finalists Suning 2-1. It's hard to say how RNG managed to win although their unusual top lane picks surely had something to do with it. I don't see how this approach will work in the long run, but props to them for trying something unique.
Even though I’m not a big fan of RNG’s top lane picks, they played well. In fact RNG were quite impressive for a team of their calibre and I would even go so far to say that RNG will emerge as proper LPL gatekeepers who should do just fine against the bottom-of-the-table teams.
Hopefully, RNG can continue developing and while I don't expect any miracle runs from them, this is still a solid team that should not struggle against the likes of OMG.
