The online stage of WePlay Academy League enters the fourth day of play on Thursday, July 22, and we’re back with another set of betting previews and predictions for today’s action. The league’s schedule has changed slightly, with all games from now on starting an hour earlier – at 17:00 CEST.
After a solid start to the tournament, we earned our first negative day on Wednesday. The day started well Mouz NXT vs BIG Academy delivering a closely contested match, but things went downhill from there, with Astralis Talent, VP.Prodigy, and FURIA Academy all suffering heavy losses.
Regardless of a negative day (-2.15 units), we’re still 8.85 units in the green with a 10-3 record, 76.9% hit rate and 70.8% ROI with our WePlay Academy League selections. If you’re following our Counter-Strike: Global Offensive picks, we encourage you to look around for the best odds!
Astralis Talent vs NAVI Junior
Thursday, July 22 – 17:00 CEST
Astralis Talent enter this match following their third straight loss of the tournament. Their poor run includes a 10-16 loss to FURIA Academy, 11-16 against BIG Academy and a complete stomp against Young Ninjas, who humiliated the Danes with 16-3 on Overpass.
I don’t like to overreact to bad results, and neither should you. However, just by looking at this Astralis Talent roster, I can’t seem to find any talent. None of the players are mechanically above average, and while they might have a nice structured play, I haven’t seen anything that would inspire confidence.
These are very young and unproven players, and if they weren’t playing Astralis Talent, I am not sure they would even have a team.
In yesterday’s match, NAVI Junior destroyed their regional rivals VP.Prodigy 16-1 on Ancient, largely thanks to Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov who was unstoppable, with 24 frags, 133.1 ADR, and 2.50 HLTV rating. Suppose he keeps this up against Astralis Talent – who are a way worse team than VP.Prodigy – seeing NAVI Junior secure another win with a similar score is not entirely out of the question.
Astralis Talent and NAVI Junior already met once, back in April, at the LOOT.BET Season 9 Closed Qualifier, when NAVI Junior won 2-0, with 16-5 on Mirage and 16-8 on Overpass. M0NESY was on fire that day and ended the series with 50 frags, 106.1 ADR, and 1.73 HLTV rating.
As long as NAVI Junior don’t try to be fancy with some complicated tactics, they should have this one in the bag. The -5.50 rounds line should be -6.50. Bet on NAVI Junior to crush Astralis Talent!
Prediction: NAVI Junior -5.50 Rounds, 1.729 at Pinnacle
Alternative: NAVI Junior -4.50 Rounds, 1.65 at Unibet / Under 25.50 Rounds – 1.85 at Unibet, 1.83 at Bet365
BIG Academy vs Fnatic Rising
Thursday, July 22 – 18:00 CEST
BIG Academy enter this match following an impressive win against mouz NXT, who they beat yesterday with 16-13 on Nuke. I am not sure why mouz NXT allowed the match to be played Nuke; as I mentioned yesterday, Nuke was one of the maps that the previous BIG Academy roster was quite comfortable on.
One thing to take away from that match is that Nico “Aqua” Kembitzky is just built differently. If he continues to play like this, BIG Academy will emerge as a genuine contender for the title, and if the rumours about XANTARES leaving the main BIG roster prove to be true, Aqua will probably be the next in line to replace him.
Fnatic Rising destroyed FURIA Academy yesterday with 16-5 on Inferno. There’s not much to say about the match; Fnatic Rising were the better team, and Iulian “regali” Harjău was once again the best player on the server, with 21 frags, 95 ADR, and 1.66 HLTV rating.
Both of these teams have players that are unbelievably skilled at the game – Fnatic Rising have regali, who is at 1.36 HLTV rating for this event, while BIG Academy have Aqua, who is currently the highest-rated player at the WePlay Academy League, averaging an outstanding 1.65 HLTV rating.
Both can have a tremendous impact on the game, and if any of these two goes quiet during the match, their team will struggle. But, on the other hand, if they both “pop-off”, we will have a banger of a match!
The current Over/Under line is set at 26.50, which is fair, but sadly I don’t see any value taking it at the provided betting odds (1.694 at Pinnacle). You can get up to 1.80 at Unibet, which is quite good; however, I have to side with BIG Academy as our main pick. The core of this team spent way more time together than the whole Fnatic Academy roster, and this has to show here.
If Aqua shows the same performance he did against mouz NXT, Fnatic Rising won’t stand a chance!
Prediction: BIG Academy to win – 1.80 at Bet365
Alternative: Over 26.50 Rounds – 1.80 at Unibet
Young Ninjas vs mouz NXT
Thursday, July 22 – 19:00 CEST
Young Ninjas outclassed Astralis Talent in their previous match, 16-3 on Overpass. They were the deserved winners since they played better all around, and there is not a lot to say about the match. Young Ninjas are now 2-1 and will definitely fancy their chances to defeat mouz NXT and go 3-1
I am a little disappointed with mouz NXT. They managed to beat Fnatic Rising on day 1 with some issues (double OT, 22:18), but their last two matches were very close defeats against FURIA Academy (12:16 on Inferno) and BIG Academy (13:16 on Nuke). They have a sound game plan, but I would like to see a little more impact from their star players.
These two teams have already played once before, about 11 days ago in the Pinnacle Cup II, where mouz NXT secured a comfortable 2-0 victory, with 16-10 on Inferno and 16-7 on Mirage. I would not put too much weight on the said match since these young teams are not exactly stable, and they crumble pretty quick if things don’t go their way.
Prior to the tournament, this match would have been a total coin toss, but from what we have seen from these two sides at the tournament, I am not sure why you would have mouz NXT priced as such big favourites.
Value is with Young Ninjas! If you can bet with Unibet, the best value bet is to go with Young Ninjas +3.50 Rounds at 1.80.
Prediction: Young Ninjas +2.50 Rounds – 1.862 at Pinnacle
Alternative: Young Ninjas +3.50 Rounds – 1.80 at Unibet / Young Ninjas to win – 2.15 at Pinnacle
FURIA Academy vs VP.Prodigy
Thursday, July 22 – 20:00 CEST
FURIA Academy won their first two matches of the tournament, including a 16-10 win against Astralis Talent and a comfortable 16-12 win against mouz NXT. In their most recent outing, FURIA Academy got battered by Fnatic Rising, who won the match 16-5 on Inferno.
It’s fair to mention that FURIA Academy were priced as 1.60 favourites to win that match. It was a fair price since they were facing a team that had little time to prepare for the tournament and are really a one-man roster, relying on their star AWPer to do all the heavy lifting.
VP.Prodigy lost to their regional rivals NAVI Junior with 1-16 yesterday. They got outaimed and outplayed yesterday, which surely can’t help their morale. On a more positive note, VP.Prodigy have managed close matches early into the tournament with a 14-16 against Young Ninjas and 17-19 against Fnatic Rising, who the Russians should have beaten had they not choked with a 14-7 lead.
Both VP.Prodigy and FURIA Academy suffered heavy losses yesterday, so you have to wonder about their state of morale. VP.Prodigy will be hungry to win and get their name on the board and should feel confident in their chances, considering their relatively solid showings in the opening two rounds.
On the other side, FURIA Academy already have two wins under their belts; however, their last loss could be a heavy blow to their morale.
FURIA Academy are priced as the betting favourites for this match (1.571 Pinnacle), while VP.Prodigy are priced at around 2.30 to win, which doesn’t make much sense to me. This match looks like a complete coin-toss, so let’s hope we are on the right side of a coin this time; value bet on VP.Prodigy!
Prediction: VP.Prodigy +2.50 Rounds – 1.892 at Pinnacle
Alternative: VP.Prodigy to win – 2.31 at Pinnacle
For more Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting picks and predictions, check back tomorrow for our betting preview of the fifth day of action at the WePlay Academy League! For betting tips, check out our premium membership, where we cover esports, tennis, golf, football, horse racing, and more.
