Aurora Gaming won against Sangal Esports (2-0) in the opening round of Group B and is expected to do well against SINNERS Esports, even though the Czech squad looked just as good in the first round when they swept Sprout. Still, Aurora already won against SINNERS (2-1) during CCT Online Finals #2, which might explain the offered CS2 betting odds.

Aurora Gaming is in solid form ahead of this match, with six wins from their last eight outings. SINNERS Esports have managed five wins over the same stretch, albeit against weaker opponents, so there is reason to believe that Aurora Gaming are the most likely victors.

Even though Aurora has shown more over the last couple of weeks, having them priced as $1.50 favourites for this match is a bit too short, especially considering how volatile games on CS2 can get. At the offered betting odds, over 2.5 maps at $1.83 is a far more appealing bet.

9INE were one of the most exciting teams just three months ago when they left a huge mark at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023 with close games against ENCE and Cloud9. However, since then, the Poles haven’t shown much.

Besides winning the RES Western European Masters: Fall 2023 in September. 9INE have struggled to produce any notable results and are 1-6 across their last seven outings. That includes a narrow 2-1 victory against IKLA in the first round of ESL Challenger League Season 46: Europe.

ORKS have not produced much recently and don’t look like a serious threat to 9INE. They’re 0-1 ahead of this match because they had to forfeit their match against 1Win due to not being able to field a complete lineup. The issue has been resolved, it seems; however, poor form combined with roster instability doesn’t make them a very exciting bet.

Even though regional derbies like this usually result in closer games, 9INE is objectively better and should win without any issues.

Team Spirit picked up an easy win in the opening round of Group C against RUBIK, whom they beat 13-3 on Nuke and 13-4 on Mirage. But as impressive as that win is, RUBIK are not a good team, so it doesn’t mean much.

Their next opponents, Pompa Team, started their ESL Challenger League Season 46: Europe campaign with a 0-2 loss against SAW; however, they held on well. Despite facing a much stronger opponent, Pompa Team forced SAW to overtime on Ancient (13-16) and Vertigo (15-19) and came very close to winning both maps.

On paper, Team Spirit are much better, but Pompa Team is stronger than their recent record would suggest. They still deserve to be underdogs in this match, but not at $6.50. We like the underdogs with a map advantage.

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Movistar Riders lost their first match of Group D against Betera (former Question Mark), marking one of their biggest defeats of the last two months. However, unexpected results should be common at ESL Challenger League Season 46: Europe, as it is one of the first tournaments to be played on Counter-Strike 2.

1win won CCT East Europe Series #2 and CCT Online Finals #3 at the end of September, but then failed to make it through ESL Challenger at DreamHack Winter 2023: European Open Qualifier with a 7-13 defeat against The Chosen Few. That shock result had to do with the tournament being played on CS2, considering 1win have beaten much stronger teams over the last three weeks.

1win are rightly priced as favourites, but considering how volatile games are since the transition to CS2, a bet on Movistar Riders at plus money makes more sense.

SAW edged past Pompa Team (16-13, 19-5) in the first round of Group C, while Looking4Org defeated EYEBALLERS (2-1). Since that win, L4O have played two games at Esportal Clash Open, where they went 1-1 with a 2-0 sweep of Hawks and a 1-2 loss against Witchers.

Those results don’t make much sense, but teams have struggled with consistency across all regions since the transition to CS2. SAW have produced similarly confusing results recently, with a 1-2 loss against For The Win at Aveiro Techdays Cup 2023, proving that the teams’ past results from CS:GO tournaments don’t mean much.

Most games at this stage look 50-50, so we prefer Looking4Org at $2.10. They’re not very stable on CS2, but L40 have enough talent to defeat SAW.

Pompa Team have not looked good over the last month, struggling to make much noise even in some lesser events. They have picked up a few wins over their dry streak, but not once did the Polish squad play a good series when faced with a half-decent opponent.

Things haven’t improved since the transition to CS2, as Pompa Team have yet to win a game on the new game version. They have lost against AVT Gaming (5-13) and have since added a 6-13 defeat against Preasy and 0-2 against SAW.

Team Spirit have shown excellent form over the last two months and are 17-4 since Dunav Party LAN. That includes just one victory on Counter-Strike 2 (2-0 vs RUBIK), so we have to take those results with a grain of salt. Still, Team Spirit is in much better shape compared to the Pompa Team, which is reflected in the offered betting odds.

Team Spirit to sweep the struggling Pompa Team at $1.61 is a good offer.

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