Hot matches and key storylines this week – and ESL Challenger League

The ESL Challenger Leagues are in full swing across all regions. We have some interesting matches coming up this week, and I discovered some hidden CSGO betting gems scheduled.

Let’s take a look at five matches played in both Europe and North America that are worthy of your consideration.

Esports.net / SAW

SKADE vs SAW

In the opening match of ESL Challenger League Season 40 Europe, we should see an entertaining match between two teams that have a lot to prove. SKADE just won the Elisa Winter Championship and is looking in good shape coming into the match. The Bulgarian CSGO roster won four out of the last six played and at the time of writing.

SAW, on the other hand, also won three out of the last six they competed in. In their last match, they got battered by a tier three team, 4glory and they looked very bad in that match. As for the map pool, we are siding with SKADE on every map except Dust 2. If SAW picks Dust 2, SKADE will probably go for Inferno. This is more than enough information for our prediction regarding this match.

SKADE is super strong on Inferno with a 75% win rate in the last 16 outings on this map, while SAW is sitting on 64% of victories on Dust 2 in the last 11 played. All in all, both teams have a high chance of winning their map picks hence why we are betting on seeing all three maps being played.

Prediction: Total Maps Played – Over 2.5
Odds: 2.09

SINNERS vs Finest

We have a quick and safe bet for you regarding this match. Right now, Sinners are playing on a very high level. They won four straight matches and they looked while doing so. Contrary to that, Finest is currently only fielding three players and they lost three straight matches. To make this bet even more reliable, Sinners defeated Finest with ease only a couple of days ago and this is why we believe that the same thing will happen again.

Prediction: SINNERS to win
Odds: 1.43

1shot vs ECSTATIC

Not so long ago, these two teams played against each other in a very tense match. That time around, 1shot took the 2-1 victory. Honestly, this match could go either way, but we believe that a deciding map will have to be played in this one. Vertigo seems like a lock for ECSTATIC, while 1shot should definitely go for Nuke where they have 90% of victories in the last 20 outings on this map.

Prediction: Total Maps Played – Over 2.5
Odds: 2.01

X13 vs ChocoCheck

At the North American League, ChockCheck is coming in as a massive favorite and we completely agree with that. X13 won one match in the last six they played and they looked incredibly bad recently.

ChocoCheck is not in the best form either, but they are holding their own by winning three out of the last five played. Map pool will not play a big factor as we believe that ChocoCheck is a much better team overall. From our point of view, they will not drop a map to X13, and the only bet that provides any value is a correct score bet.

Prediction: ChocoCheck to win 2:0
Odds: 1.50

ATK vs PaiN Gaming

Finally, a very one sided match between PaiN and ATK. There is no scenario in which ATK wins this series, as PaiN is favored on all maps across the board. Granted, there isn’t much data to go on, but pound for pound the Brazilians have way better fraggers. This one is a clear outright win.

Prediction: PaiN Gaming to win
Odds: 1.40

If you go to GG.BET, you are looking at x12.61 in combined odds if you play all matches into an accumulator. It’s honestly a good return on investment for a bunch of B-tier matches.