It's a fantastic night of Counter Strike: Global Offensive action coming up with some big matchups coming from the ESL Pro League Season! As usual, we have you covered with our best bets for the night this Thursday. the 3rd of September below.
ESports Betting Tips: Thursday, September 3rd
Complexity vs Astralis
ESL Pro League Season 12 Europe
Complexity and Astralis last met in April during the ESL One: Road to Rio – Europe, where the Danes edged out a 2-1 win. The match was relatively close, since Complexity managed to tie the series with a commanding 16-13 win on Nuke after losing the opening map (Vertigo) 4-16. Having said that, there is no denying Astralis deserved to win after their 16-11 victory on the final map.
A lot has changed since that bout, however, namely on the side of Astralis. Their two-star players Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth and Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander are both on a leave and got replaced by Patrick "es3tag" Hansen and Lucas "Bubzkji" Andersen.
Although Bubzkji and es3tag are solid players, they're nowhere near as good as Xyp9x and gla1ve, so it's more than fair to say the current Astralis is significantly weaker than the "old" 2019 Astralis.
This was very obvious in Astralis' 0-2 loss to Ninjas in Pyjamas not long ago and unless Astralis manage to improve upon that performance, we can expect another 0-2 here. Complexity might not be the top team in the scene, but they're definitely much better than NiP, so I have no problem placing a wager on the underdogs. Bet on Complexity!
Fnatic vs Spirit
ESL Pro League Season 12 Europe
Fnatic left a lot to be desired with their performance at ESL One: Cologne 2020 Online - Europe where they managed a poor ninth-12th place finish with a 1-2 record. There they managed to defeat only Heretics (2-1) but lost to Astralis (0-2) with 5-16 on Nuke and 17-19 on Train, and Heroic (0-2) with 11-16 on Vertigo and 11-16 on Overpass.
Unlike Fnatic who have been struggling with their form, Spirit are 8-0 in their last eight games. Even though their wins came against somewhat weaker sides such as forZe, Espada and K23, we can be sure Spirit won't lack confidence, especially after their title-winning runs at Eden Arena Malta Vibes Cup 8 and Nine to Five 3.
Fnatic and Spirit last met in May during the DreamHack Masters Spring 2020 Europe group stage, where Spirit won 2-0 with 16-14 on Inferno and 16-3 on Nuke. Not a lot has changed on either side since then so Spirit should be more than capable of taking down Fnatic once more.
For that reason, I can't agree with the betting odds, which have Fnatic priced as the favourites. Sure, they are a more established team than Spirit, but their recent performances make it hard to believe they can outclass the in-form Russians. Bet on Spirit to win!
Team Nigma vs OG
OMEGA League: Europe Immortal Division
Team Nigma and OG will clash in the opening round of OMEGA League upper bracket playoffs, which will mark their seventh meeting of the year and the first since late July when Nigma won 2-0 during the OGA Dota PIT S2: EU CIS.
Even though Nigma won the most recent bout with OG, it was also Nigma's first and only win over OG in their history. All five previous matches between the two European Dota2 titans ended in OG's favour, three of which were 2-0 sweeps.
Looking at how teams performed through the group stage, Nigma claimed the top seed in Group A where they managed a 4-1 record. They have defeated Alliance (2-1), Virtus.pro (2-1), NaVi (2-0) and 5men (2-1), but had to admit defeat to Evil Geniuses (1-2). OG, on the other side ended the group stage with a 3-2 record with wins against FlyToMoon (2-0), NiP (2-0) and Vikin.gg (2-1), and losses to Team Secret (0-2), and Team Liquid (0-2).
Even though Nigma won more matches than OG and are also 8-2 in their last 10 games, most of their fixtures since the start of the month were very close. In fact, out of their last seven games, Nigma saw a three-map series six times, which suggests that while Nigma can win, they are also prone to dropping maps.
OG are quite the opposite in that regard since only three out of their last 10 games saw all three maps being played. They're also 6-4 in last 10 and are entering this match following two 0-2 losses to Secret and Liquid.
The betting odds have Nigma priced as heavy favourites, which I wouldn't have a problem with if the odds were a bit higher. There is no reason to have OG priced as high as 2.27, especially considering how stacked this roster is. They might have had a few slip-ups as of late, but historically, OG tend to outperform Nigma, so there is definitely a case to be made in favour of OG. Value bet on OG!
