Betting-Previews.com returns with another set of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting picks and predictions for the second day of CS:GO WePlay Academy League Day. On today’s menu, we have five games, kicking off on Tuesday, July 20 at 18:00 CEST.
I was pleasantly surprised by the tournament. There were almost no major technical delays, the games were fairly close and entertaining, and the rounds where the tournament allows watchers to listen to the team communications were a very nice addition.
To make the WePlay Academy League Day 1 experience that much better, we hit all five of our betting picks, earning us an excellent 7.16 units of profit. If you follow our bets for CS:GO WePlay Academy League, we strongly advise you to look around for the best odds!
FURIA Academy vs Mouz NXT
Tuesday, July 20 – 18:00 CEST
FURIA Academy defeated Astralis Talent 16-10 on Vertigo in their CS:GO WePlay Academy League opener. The first half of the match was fairly close (7:8), but things turned grim for the Danes, who couldn’t match the Brazilian lineup in the second half.
Considering this was FURIA Academy’s first match in Europe, they did surprisingly well, and I expect that they will only get better as the tournament goes on. Back in Brazil, the FURIA Academy played against well-established teams such as DETONA and Bravos, so facing academy rosters present at this event shouldn’t be too challenging.
Many expected Mouz NXT to secure a comfortable win against Fnatic Rising yesterday, and to be perfectly honest; they should have been able to close the match without the double OT. Mouz NXT were already up 13-8, and the game looked like a done deal; however, Fnatic Rising clawed their way back and even found themselves in a winnable position at one point (15-13).
Still, Fnatic Rising fell short and allowed mouz NXT to force overtime. However, Mouz managed to get it done at 22-18 after two OTs. To be fair, mouz NXT were the better team, and they are still one of the main favorites to win the tournament.
Pinnacle has mouz NXT priced as big betting favorites (1.26), while FURIA Academy are priced around 3.58, which seems fair. I don’t see any value backing Mouz NXT at such low odds, especially after what we saw yesterday.
Mouz NXT will likely win this match; however, FURIA Academy with a 4.5 rounds advantage is also a tempting bet.
Unibet offers a very generous 1.76 odds on over 24.50 rounds, which looks like the best bet to take here. If you don’t have a Unibet account, your next best bet would be Over 25.50 rounds at 1.83 at Bet365.
Prediction: Over 24.50 Rounds – 1.76 at Unibet
Alternative: Over 25.50 Rounds – 1.83 at Bet365
Fnatic Rising vs VP.Prodigy
Tuesday, July 20 – 19:00 CEST
Fnatic Rising lost their tournament opener against one of the main favorites, Mouz NXT. However, considering the squad was only together for about two weeks, Fnatic Rising did pretty well, and they even had their chances to win the match.
VP.Prodigy have been playing together for much longer than Fnatic Rising, so that is a plus, but they haven’t had much success. The Russians have won one official match against AGF but lost against 1WIN and twice against Young Ninjas.
VP.Prodigy lost their opening day bout against Young Ninjas, 14:16 on Overpass. The score suggests that the match was very close, but to be perfectly honest, Young Ninjas were ahead by five rounds at HT and should have been able to close out the deal way sooner than in the 30th round! I don’t really have any strong opinion on VP.Prodigy yet; I need to see them play a few more matches.
Both teams enter this match following a first-round defeat, and neither team will want to go 0-2 after today. The betting odds on this match are all over the place if you look online; Pinnacle has Fnatic Rising as 1.833 favorites, while Bet365 has them as 2.00 underdogs.
I was way more impressed with Fnatic than I was with VP.Prodigy and the 2.00 on Bet365 makes no sense to me. Bet on Fnatic to win!
Prediction: Fnatic to win, 2.00 at Bet365
Alternative: Fnatic +2.50 Rounds, 1.75 at Unibet, 1.72 at Bet365
BIG Academy vs. Astralis Talent
Tuesday, July 20 – 20:00 CEST
I am not sure what NAVI Junior were thinking yesterday, letting a map such as Mirage slip through the veto! Just take a look at some of the BIG players’ Faceit accounts, and you will see that they spend most of their time on Mirage, while some of BIG Academy players seem to play Mirage almost exclusively!
BIG pretty much handled NAVI Junior without any issues. They secured a comfortable 16-6 win, which is just what a new team needs for a successful start at the tournament, and it should serve as a good morale booster as the Germans look to go 2-0 up against Astralis Talent this evening.
I didn’t expect a lot from Astralis Talent yesterday, and I continue to be bearish about this team. If you exclude their performances at Dust2.dk Ligaen Season 17: Regular Season, Astralis Talent are at a 0% win rate across the last three months, and I expect that trend to continue against BIG Academy.
The BO1 format and the fact that the group stage is played online should make it easier for Astralis Talent to break the curse and win some matches, but I don’t think it will happen tonight.
The betting odds are certainly something at this tournament; you can get either 1.50 to 1.70 for BIG to win or 2.06 to 2.40 on Astralis Talent to walk away with a W. I was looking to bet on BIG Academy at 1.67 at Bet365, but the odds shortened down to 1.57, which seems about fair.
BIG Academy are still around 1.62 on Pinnacle and Unibet, which offers enough value for a bet, but I would instead take the additional -2.50 rounds at 1.862 Pinnacle. As mentioned, I don’t expect a lot from Astralis Talent at this tournament, and I can confidently say that the odds on them would be significantly higher had this roster not been associated with the Astralis brand.
Value is with BIG Academy!
Prediction: BIG Academy -2.50 Rounds – 1.862 at Pinnacle
Alternative: BIG Academy to win, 1.628 at Pinnacle, 1.62 at Unibet
Young Ninjas vs NAVI Junior
Tuesday, July 20 – 21:00 CEST
Young Ninjas met with NAVI Junior four times before and are leading in map wins with 7-0. They last met two months ago at BLAST Rising 2021, where Young Ninjas made quick work of NAVI Junior and won 2-0, with 16-9 on Inferno and 16-11 on Vertigo.
Pinnacle has Young Ninjas priced as heavy betting favorites (1.354), while NAVI Junior are priced at around 3.03, which definitely underrates them a little. NAVI Junior held on well against respectable tier-two teams such as GORILLAZ, Sinners, and Budapest Five before, so they clearly have some talent.
I would also be careful not to overreact to NAVI Junior’s defeat against BIG Academy yesterday since it was the tournament’s opening match, and it was played on Mirage – which obviously benefited the Germans more.
I don’t believe there is any value backing Young Ninjas at 1.35. Sure they are the most likely victors, but NAVI Junior have played enough matches against them to know what strategy to use to make Ninjas’ life tougher.
I would suggest skipping this match, but if you must have a bet, a NAVI Junior to keep it within four rounds is the way to go!
Prediction: NAVI Junior +4.50 Rounds, 1.724 at Pinnacle
For more CS:GO WePlay Academy League betting previews and predictions, check back tomorrow, when we will post our CS:GO WePlay Academy League Day 3 picks sometime in the early afternoon. If you’re not an esports bettor and instead swear by “traditional sports”, look no further than our premium membership, where we cover football, basketball, tennis, horse racing, F1, and more.
