Betting-Previews.com returns with another set of betting previews and predictions for the second day of LoL Championship Series (LCS) 2021 Summer Week 9 action.
LCS Summer Week 9 – Day 2
When: Saturday, July 31 – 14:00 – 18:00 PDT
Number of Games: 5
The penultimate day of LCS 2021 Summer regular season is here. There is only one more ticket for the playoffs on the table; however, with over half of the league still battling for a better seeding, the final two days of the season will be anything but boring.
Golden Guardians vs 100 Thieves
Saturday, July 31 – 14:00 PDT
With their win against yesterday, Golden Guardians are now tied with FlyQuest in eighth with a 13-30 record on the season. GG still need to face 100 Thieves and Immortals, whereas FlyQuest need to play Immortals and Counter Logic Gaming.
Obviously, FlyQuest’s schedule is easier; however, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll make it out alive.
100 Thieves lost both of their last two outings against Immortals and TSM, which puts them in a very unenviable spot. With a 28-15 record, 100T are still battling to finish the regular season inside the top-two, and they surely won’t want to let go of their seeding.
Both teams have a lot on the line for this match, so when you approach betting on this game, you have to ask yourself how much do you trust GG. If you believe 100T will step up their game, you could take them with a kill handicap, whereas you can’t go wrong with a bet on GG to keep this one close, assuming you believe this will be a close affair.
The betting odds seem fair to me, and I won’t get involved in this match.
Dignitas vs Cloud9
Saturday, July 31 – 15:00 PDT
I fully expect Cloud9 to win here, but I won’t be betting on them at 1.411 (Pinnacle). They might have stumbled around a bit, but Cloud9 haven’t played that poorly yesterday.
What’s more, we have to take into account that this team has Luka “Perkz” Perković, who is known to step up a notch once the playoffs roll around. He hasn’t shown that side of him yet, but it’s only a matter of time before he does.
Dignitas are two wins clear of Immortals and sit comfortably inside the top-six. They might still lose the favourable seed, however, considering that they still need to play TSM and Cloud9, whereas Immortals only need to perform against Golden Guardians and FlyQuest.
Dignitas enter this match on a three-game winning streak, which included wins against Team Liquid, FlyQuest, and Counter Logic Gaming. Solid showings on paper, but Dignitas haven’t really produced anything spectacular on the Summoner’s Rift.
I don’t believe Dignitas can win here, nor would I side with Cloud9 at the offered betting odds. One bet that might appeal to some is Dignitas to claim the first Herald, which should offer some value at decent odds. Dignitas first Herald rate is at 58.3%, while Cloud9’s rate is at only 33.3%.
FlyQuest vs Immortals
Saturday, July 31 – 16:00 PDT
FlyQuest lost to Golden Guardians yesterday and are now tied in eighth with 13-30 record on the season. They need a win here or hope that GG lost their game against 100T and focus on their final match of the season against Counter Logic Gaming, which would decide FlyQuest’s fate.
Although FlyQuest need a win, the motivation alone isn’t enough for me to believe that they can actually do it. They’re priced as 2.28 (Pinnacle) underdogs for this match, which seems about right.
As talked about before, FlyQuest aren’t good, and while I expected some improvement with the return of Brandon Joel “Josedeodo” Villegas and Cristian “Palafox” Palafox, I can’t say I was impressed.
Immortals lost against Team Liquid yesterday, but that doesn’t change the fact that this is still a solid mid-table team. Immortals are already locked in for the playoffs; however, they could still improve their seeding and enter the upper bracket, so it’s not fair to say that immortals won’t try to win here.
At the same time, they might be content with their placement. Who knows?
This is a tricky spot. If we ignore the “what ifs”, it would be fair to say that immortals are a much better team than FlyQuest and seem to be in great form. I like Immortals, but this is not a match I would want to get involved in.
If you need a bet, take Immortals at 1.80 on Bet365!
TSM vs Counter Logic Gaming
Saturday, July 31 – 17:00 PDT
If TSM win here, they will lock in the LCS 2021 Summer regular-season title and out of all the games left, this one seems like the best one to do it. Counter Logic Gaming are more or less locked out of the playoffs, but this team is still giving their all, which is very impressive.
I might sound like a broken record by now, but you have to be impressed with the amount of professionalism CLG have been displaying. They’re pushing through despite all the drama and disappointing losses.
Despite their resilience, CLG are not a team you would expect to win here. They’re simply not good enough to defeat TSM – unless if TSM blunder another game, albeit that has become fairly rare of late.
This match is similar to the Cloud9 vs Dignitas game in a way that I have no faith in the underdogs delivering, nor do I see any bet that appeals to me at the offered betting odds.
Having said that, there is a betting opportunity on the first drake market. Over the last seven outings, CLG and TSM have been averaging the league’s highest First Drake rate (71%). If we look only at the last four outings, CLG have averaged 75% FD, whereas TSM secured the first drake of the game in only half of their games.
Despite that, you’re getting plus money on CLG to kill the first dragon, and at 2.01 (Pinnacle), this is definitely a bet worth looking at.
Team Liquid vs Evil Geniuses
Saturday, July 31 – 18:00 PDT
For some unknown reason, Team Liquid are favoured (1.757 Pinnacle) to win this match. While they have been showing some improvement, they’re still not as good as Evil Geniuses, who continue to deliver day in and day out.
This is a similar spot to the Evil Geniuses vs Cloud9 spot yesterday, and you don’t have to do much to figure out which of the two teams we like best.
Don’t get me wrong, Liquid are a solid team, but they’re facing Evil Geniuses, who are arguably the best team in the LCS currently. They have had some iffy moments against Cloud9, but not once did it seem like EG would lose.
Evil Geniuses play the side lanes exceptionally well, which puts immense pressure on their opponents to do something or suffer the consequences. We saw yesterday how EG opened up the game against C9 by taking inhibitors with Twisted Fate, and while Liquid will surely anticipate EG to enter this match with the same gameplan, I don’t believe Liquid are flexible enough to have an answer to that.
At 2.09 (Pinnacle), Evil Geniuses are an easy bet.
Betting Odds are correct as of Saturday, July 31 at 18:20 CEST
