Our esports tipster Michael Lee is back with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting picks for three matches in CCT Central Europe Series #4: Closed Qualifier, on Monday, November 28. Today he looks at LDLC vs Apeks, Astralis Talent vs Turow Zgorzelec, and EYEBALLERS vs OnlineBOTS.
Esports Betting Tips: Monday, November 28th
LDLC vs Apeks
CCT Central Europe Series #4: Closed Qualifier
LDLC completely rebuilt its CS:GO division in August when the French esports team formed a seven-man lineup, spearheaded by former G2 Esports player François "AMANEK" Delaunay. However, the French squad have yet to find any notable success, failing to win a single tournament over the last three months.
They came close four times, though, with a runner-up finish at GAM3RS_X EU Champions: Fall 2022, two semi-finals appearances at ESL Championnat National: Autumn 2022 and NumberOne Season 3: Stage 2, and a fourth-place finish at La Coupe 2022 #3 last week.
Form-wise, LDLC are 4-4 since the start of the month, which might not look too bad, but they have lost against The Prodigies (0-2), Prodigy (13-16), and Team Falcons (0-2), which is far from acceptable.
Apeks have also made a couple of roster changes lately, including the departure of Asger "AcilioN" Larsen, Hugo "Chawzyyy" Günther, and Richard "shox" Papillon, who were let go after a streak of disappointing results. Like LDLC, Apeks haven't won a single event over the last few months, but they showed some life in September when they reached the semi-finals of Fragadelphia 17.
But even that means very little, seeing how Apeks haven't played a single official match since September.
We're looking at two struggling teams who have shown nothing to be excited about. But even though I don't expect either of the two squads to impress on Monday, I would prefer to be on the side of LDLC. Their form is concerning, but unlike Apeks, LDLC have at least been active this month.
LDLC to win
$1.72 (1 Unit)
Astralis Talent vs Turow Zgorzelec
CCT Central Europe Series #4: Closed Qualifier
Astralis Talent are 1.40 favourites to win this match, but there's very little to support that price. Although the young Danes are 5-1 ahead of this match, all of those wins came against weak CS:GO teams during Dust2.dk Ligaen Season 21: Regular Season, including Brick, Sashi Esports, Prosapia, and Flames Ascent.
Obviously, it's hard to be too excited about Turow Zgorzelec since this is a lower-division team that has been mostly competing in C-tier events over the year. But they are in solid form. The Polish squad reached the final four at FRAG Season 10: Closed Qualifier and looked dominant in CCT Central Europe Series #4 open qualifiers.
They didn't have to beat any tough teams, but Turow Zgorzelec are winning games, and that's all that matters.
It's not wrong to see Astralis Talent as the stronger team since they have had some success in 2022, but they also haven't won anything of note since May. So while I don't have a problem with Astralis Talent being priced as the favourites, 2.75 on Turow Zgorzelec seems a bit too high.
Turow Zgorzelec to win
$2.75 (1 Unit)
EYEBALLERS vs OnlineBOTS
CCT Central Europe Series #4: Closed Qualifier
Since EYEBALLERS came together in July, the Swedish team has endured quite a turbulent journey, consisting of dry streaks and an occasional solid showing. They were runners-up at 1xBet Series and then didn't produce anything meaningful until Svenska Cupen 2022 in October, where they again claimed a silver medal, but have been since fairly disappointing.
At the end of October, EYEBALLERS finished Elisa Invitational Fall 2022 in ninth-12th place and even though they won Svenska Elitserien Fall 2022: Online Stage at the start of November, that is hardly a big achievement.
Still, the Swedes seem to do well against weaker teams, which should come in handy on Monday when they play a mostly-Estonian squad. OnlineBOTS have only recently come together and have just two official matches on their record, including wins against KenzNET (16-14) and ESCA (2-1) in the CCT Central Europe Series #4 open qualifiers.
While important for OnlineBOTS, those wins are not enough to figure out how strong the Estonian squad actually are. So it really only comes down to whether EYEBALLERS are good enough to win a game they should.
But while they seems stronger, I'm not too high on EYEBALLERS, and I would argue that they can easily lose. It's important to remember that OnlineBOTS field ex-Fnatic AWPer Valentin "poizon" Vasilev, Anton "supra" Tšernobai, Kevin "HS" Tarn, and Jesper "tenzki" Plougmann, so it's not like OnlineBOTS lack talent.
This is a very winnable match for OnlineBOTS, and at 2.37, it's tough not to take a chance on them.
OnlineBOTS to win
$2.37 (1 Unit)
