With the first round of Group Stage action now behind us, we move into the pivotal second round-robin. Each of the four days will see entire groups conclude, with at least six regular games planned for each day alongside the possibility of tiebreakers, it’s sure to be a great week of action.
G2 v Team Liquid
Before the group stage even started this was a matchup that had fans salivating. G2 went 2-0 in their first two matches whilst Team Liquid lost both of theirs. However, when the two teams met it was Team Liquid that sprung the upset as they kept their hopes of Worlds Knockout qualification alive. This series will be the very first one of the week, so G2 will be looking to get off to a winning start especially when they’ll play Machi esports shortly after and could all but secure their spot before they play Suning later in the day. G2 is favourites for the series despite the loss in week one to Team Liquid.
Team Liquid will come into the series knowing they can take down the European side, however, caution will be required as G2 are fairly well known for their ability to turn on the style when they need to. Team Liquid was successful against G2 the first time around because they got an early level 1 lead and snowballed it throughout the game. That’s their win condition here too, but G2 will know it. Team Liquid are outsiders but as it’s the first game of the day, they might just cause a second upset and turn the group on its head.
Fnatic v Team SoloMid
Fnatic v TSM was one of the first big matches we witnessed during Group Stage and it certainly delivered on the hype. It was a close series but it was the European side that came out on top. The two will rematch on Saturday as the first game of the day and it has even greater significance in the grand scheme of things after Fnatic crushed Gen.G in their previous meeting. TSM losing to LGD puts Fnatic in a three-way tie with LGD and Gen.G making victories against TSM in the second round-robin the possible deciding factor in who qualifies for knockouts. Fnatic is 4/7 favourites to claim victory against TSM.
TSM goes into the second round-robin with a 0-3 record with their hopes of making it to the knockout stage all but over. With that in mind, they’ll come into the series at 27/20 odds to win, though the risk of a team that’s fighting for their lives could make them a dark horse to take the series.
Fnatic v LGD
With Fnatic leaving the first round of matches as the joint top side having beaten both TSM and Gen.G, the upset loss to LGD stands out as a huge “what could have been” moment for the LEC side. With Fnatic having played TSM already by the time this series takes place it could be the make or break game for Fnatic and their qualification for the Knockout stage of Worlds 2020. With both teams joint first at the time of writing, the head-to-head matchup will be crucial come the end of the day. Fnatic is 1/1 outsiders for the series, with potentially everything on the line.
LGD goes into the day joint first with Fnatic and Gen.G, so the series between the two could be crucial for the team’s survival. LGD will have faced a tricky match against Gen.G before the series against Fnatic and we could have a really good idea of who’s looking best to qualify by then. LGD are slight favourites at 10/13, though matches that take place prior to this series will dictate the odds massively. The fact LGD were able to surprise Fnatic in the previous meeting will have an impact, with LGD knowing if they beat Fnatic a second time they’ll have the 2-0 head-to-head against the European side which could decide who wins the group.
*All odds correct at time of writing.
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