NORTH VS FORZE CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS
CSGO Betting Odds:	North $1.76 at GG Bet | forZe $1.99 at GG Bet
When:	February 21, 2020 at 14:00 PST
Where	Anaheim Convention Center – Anaheim, CA
Watch Live:	Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/dreamhackcs)

NORTH VS FORZE DREAMHACK OPEN ANAHEIM 2020 BETTING PREVIEW

North and forZe will clash on the battlefield this Friday in the opening match of Group A at DreamHack Open Anaheim.

ForZe will enter the second DreamHack Open event of the year looking to repeat their success from December, when they hoisted the DreamHack Winter 2019 title. However, the field awaiting them in Anaheim is significantly stronger, and a strong start is vital if Andrey “Jerry” Mekhryakov and company are serious about pocketing the top prize of US $50,000 and a ticket for DreamHack Masters J?nk?ping.

ForZe have produced a mixed bag of results since the turn of the year. They put up a commanding run at the DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020 European Qualifier, defeating the likes of Winstrike (2-1), CR4ZY (2-0) and Heroic (2-0) to pocket a ticket for the Anaheim event. ForZe also appeared in the United Masters League Season 2 playoffs, where they defeated Hard Legion Esports (2-0) in the quarter-finals but fell short against the eventual champions, Copenhagen Flames (1-2), in the semi-finals.

At the start of February, the Russian quintet also tested their luck at European open qualifiers for the inaugural season of the newly formed FLASHPOINT CS:GO league. They failed to make it far, however, as they lost the opening match against Team Unique (7-16).

North will hope for an upturn in fortunes in Anaheim following their underwhelming display at DreamHack Open Leipzig 2020. North started strong in Germany with a 16-4 win over Sprout but hit a wall against MAD Lions (10-16) and were then humiliated by Heroic, who reverse-swept them with a 16-2 on the third and final map.

Prior to their shaky display in Leipzig, North appeared at IEM Katowice World Championship European Open Qualifier #2, where they came close to securing a ticket for the closed qualifiers but fell flat in the finals. Although Markus “Kjaerbye” Kj?rbye and his squad enjoyed commanding wins over FiVe (16-8), Nemiga (16-12) and Gambit Youngsters (16-8), MAD Lions (8-16, 4-16) proved to be big a hurdle to overcome.

North have made a couple of changes to their roster since the Katowice qualifiers. In-game leader Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen returned in mid-January to replace Jakob “JUGi” Hansen, while Jimmy “Jumpy” Berndtsson took over as head coach from Torbj?rn “mithR” Nyborg earlier this month.

NORTH VS FORZE DREAMHACK OPEN ANAHEIM 2020 BETTING PREDICTIONS

This will be a best-of-one (Bo1) fixture, meaning it can go either way; however, most esports bookmakers seem to agree North have a slightly better chance of claiming the spoils.

North arguably have more individual quality in their squad, but their new core has played less than five maps together in the last month. For that reason, it is hard to say whether this team has had enough time to gel.

ForZe’s squad is averaging a 1.096 rating over the past three months. North sit at 1.058 over the same period, so the form lines are quite similar.

Looking at the map pools, North hold a better win rate on Dust II (100%-50%) and Nuke (75%-50%). ForZe have the advantage on Mirage (78%-67%) and Train (86%-0%), while they have played 13 games to North’s one on Inferno and are on a five-map winning streak.

Despite their high ambitions for the 2020 season, North’s recent results suggest they have a long way to go to crack into the top bracket of CS:GO teams. They might find their footing in a couple of months, but forZe are much more appealing as the outsiders for Friday’s clash.