ESL One Cologne 2020 Group Stage: Good and Bad Bets
Published: Aug 20, 2020 - Last Updated: Oct 10, 2022
Given the fact that quite a few matches have been played so far during the ESL One Cologne 2020, we believe that now is the right time to go over everything that has happened and provide you with our betting tips for the upcoming matches.
ESL One Cologne 2020 Day 1 Recap
Since this event is split into two regions, NA & EU, we will split this section into two pieces. Let’s get straight into it.
ESL One Cologne 2020 Europe
There were quite a few surprises so far in the European region. First and foremost, Sprout dominated BIG. By far the biggest surprise so far in this tournament.
Both OG and Natus Vincere had a slow start but they were able to seal the deal against NiP and mousesports. Lastly, Complexity did not even break a sweat against MAD Lions who are arguably the worst team in this event.
Group B was more straightforward. Firstly, Vitality stomped Heretics while the new Astralis roster totally outplayed fnatic. On top of that, Kjaerbye will try to forget his debut as FaZe Clan did not even win a map against Heroic.
Lastly, MiBR once again showed that top tier CS:GO is way out of their league as they were awful against G2 who allowed Brazilian CS:GO roster a total of 6 rounds over the course of 2 maps.
ESL Cologne 2020 North America
In North America, things are getting complicated. No one expected Chaos to beat FURIA. On top of that, a lot of bettors expected Gen.G to defeat 100Thieves, but that is not what happened.
As for the other group. Evil Geniuses are looking better than ever, especially in their match against Triumph. From what we have seen so far, there is a realistic chance that EG will win this event easily, especially if FURIA does not make it to the playoffs.
Finally, C9 losing to Team Liquid was expected. However, the closeness of the match gives us pause, as either c9 has greatly improved over the past two months or Liquid is severly underperforming. Regardless, we believe C9 will easily best Triumph and potentially meet Liquid once again in the decider.
GOOD and BAD Bets For the Upcoming Matches
We decided to move away from predictions. This time around, we will turn our focus towards breaking down good and bad bets and leave predictions up to you.
In the European version of ESL One Cologne 2020, we found out that BIG is choking once again. Furthermore, Natus Vincere looked really good despite having a slow start. Complexity did not really have an opponent in MAD Lions who are nowhere to be found as of late.
Despite looking bad, BIG will have an excellent chance to stay in the event if they can beat NiP tomorrow. Furthermore, mousesports seems like a lock against MAD Lions. However, odds on the German CS:GO franchise are not that high.
We have also found out that fnatic had an awful showing against Astralis. Astralis will have a hard time repeating the same performance they had once they played against the Swedish CS:GO roster. Contrary to that, Vitality is looking really good and they should have an edge against weakened Astralis.
Last but not least, FaZe Clan will have an excellent opportunity to stay in the event if they can defeat MiBR. From what we have seen so far, MiBR is straight awful. It seems like they are not even interested in competing hence why betting on FaZe Clan seems like a good thing to do.
As for North America. It is time for FURIA to deal with the pressure. However, they will play against a solid team in Gen.G. Right now, CSGO odds on FURIA to win this match are not that high. This is why we believe that betting on FURIA is a really bad bet.
ESL One Top Betting Partner:
Betting options and exotics
When it comes to betting options, ESL’s official betting partner GG.Bet offers a wide array of outright and in-play betting options.
With the first round matches throwing a wrench in the pre-event expectations, we see odds shifting and some betting opportunities arising.
FaZe Clan is still the pistol kings and good choice for opening round winners. On top of that their outright bets have increased odds.
Astralis is a hot pick right now, especially after they tanked in the overall rankings and providers are sleeping on them and undervaluing one of the best CSGO teams.
Finally, both Liquid and Gen.G will likely have a few wins in the next days with really high odds. Either outights or max rounds bets are a very solid choice.
With coefficients averaging 1.5 and above on most of these teams a simple two-way or three-way accumulator will net you solid returns.
Featured Image Credits: ESL One
