G2 Esports vs Team Liquid Preview, Live Stream, Odds, Picks & Predictions
The Second EU vs NA Match of the Tournament
Throughout the years, Europe has maintained a winning record against North America, but we can’t deny that it’s always fun to see these two regions face each other. The PGL Major Antwerp features only 2 North American teams and both will be facing two of the strongest European teams on the first day of the event.
Europe might have stronger firepower than its counterpart, which forces the North American teams to play in unexpected ways if they want to have real chances of taking down the European squads.
G2 Esports heads into this round on a very good form. They recently won against Astralis in a best-of-3, giving them enough confidence coming into the Challengers stage. In March, G2 Esports also defeated NiP in a dominating manner at the EPL group stage, although they didn’t qualify for the playoffs.
Now if we look at Complexity’s recent matches, they took a loss against the Brazilian team in a series where they almost managed to win. What might make the North American teams feel uncomfortable at the major is that they haven’t played many LAN matches recently.
To have a better understanding if Team Liquid has a chance at taking G2 Esports, let’s dive deep into the performances of both teams heading into the first major of the year.
G2 Esports Came Really Close to Losing Against Astralis
G2 Esports, against the csgo odds, took a huge loss versus Anonymo Esports, and that took everyone by surprise. This was the main reason why they weren’t able to qualify directly for the Legends Stage. As the tournament progressed, G2 Esports managed to take down every single one of their opponents with ease, until their match against Astralis arrived. It’s safe to say that they were the favorites, but the series was closer than expected.
Dust2 was G2’s pick for the first game of the series. The game started quite evenly as the first half finished 8-7 in favor of G2 Esports. Astralis secured the first three rounds of the second half, but G2 was able to bounce back into the game and won the next 8 rounds in a row, closing out the game with a 16-10 score.
Game 2 made the series much more interesting for all the csgo betting fans. Astralis came right out of the gates striking hard in Ancient as they won 12 rounds on T side. During the second half, G2 Esports couldn’t do much as Astralis’ Farlig took complete control over the match, finishing with a +14 kill differential and 104.6 ADR.
Heading into the 3rd game, it was unclear which team was going to take the series home. Both the first and second half were extremely close and the game went to OT. G2 Esports won the first three rounds and Astralis tried to come back after winning 2 rounds, but G2 was the better team and closed out the third game with a 19-17 score.
G2 Esports comes into this match as the favorites, but if they have a shaky performance against Team Liquid, then they might drop more rounds than expected.
Team Liquid’s Win Streak Came to an End Versus PaiN Gaming
The North American squad was on a huge win streak as they won their last 6 matches going into their series versus PaiN Gaming. But they couldn’t extend their win streak as PaiN Gaming dominated Team Liquid at the Blast Premier Spring Showdown in late April.
Team Liquid made PaiN Gaming look like bots when they met at the Americas RMR on April 12. And no, I’m not exaggerating when I PaiN Gaming looked like bots against TL. The game was played out on Mirage and Team Liquid won the first 9 rounds without much trouble. PaiN Gaming was able to win the 1betting0th round, but that was the only one they picked up. Team Liquid finished the game with an astounding 16-1 record.
Fast forward to the Blast Showdown and it’s a completely different story. The series started in favor of the Brazilian squad as they secured an early lead in the first game. TL didn’t find an opportunity to come back into the game and Pain Gaming closed out Vertigo in a convincing manner.
Now, Team Liquid won the second game and they had a good performance, but I want to focus on map 3. The teams were all over the place in Overpass. PaiN Gaming started with a 4-round lead but Team Liquid bounced back and secured the first half with a 9-6 score. They had a lot of momentum but dropped it against a PaiN Gaming that would put all their efforts into winning this match.
TL went to OT against PaiN after having such a solid lead in the first rounds of the game. PaiN’s biguzera had an amazing performance that allowed his team to come back into the game, finishing the game in their favor. Team Liquid ended up with a frustrating defeat and left a lot of lingering doubts for the esports betting experts as they head into the Major.
G2 Esports vs Team Liquid Game Information
Date: Monday, May 9
Time: 7:15am eT
Live Stream: PGL – Twitch
G2 Esports vs Team Liquid Predictions
These two teams faced each other back in February, and G2 Esports completely decimated Team Liquid in a best-of-3 series. As we’ve mentioned before, Europe has a very good record against North America. Now, Team Liquid had a very impressive form before their match PaiN Gaming.
The main question is, how much will Team Liquid’s defeat against PaiN Gaming affect their performance and mental state coming into this tournament?
The only way that Team Liquid secures their first victory of the event against G2 Esports is that they somehow perform much better than they did in their last match. And even so, they’re now playing against much better teams. To put things in perspective, PaiN didn’t even qualify for PGL Major Antwerp.
G2 Esports have performed better against better teams recently, their players are some of the best in the world, and whether we like it or not, there is an EU vs NA pride implication in this match. Even if Team Liquid comes in a good form, G2 can always rely on Niko’s aim to completely dominate weaker teams, making it really safe to bet on G2 Esports for this match.
