by Thursday, October 10 will mark the third day of the ongoing ESL Pro League Season 10 Europe and also the final day of Group A fixtures.
That means FaZe Clan, mousesports, BIG and OpTic Gaming will go head-to-head one last time before we get to see which three teams advance to round two and which team goes home.
Results so far:
mousesports 2-1 BIG
FaZe 2-0 OpTic
FaZe 2-1 BIG
mousesports 0-0 OpTic
FaZe vs mouesesports
Thursday, October 10 – 17:25 BST
FaZe Clan – +137
FaZe will enter their third fixture of the group stage as heavy underdogs despite winning both of their opening two group fixtures.
While FaZe completely trashed OpTic (2-0) on day one and managed to push BIG to their limits on day two (2-1), we don’t trust that they have the needed quality to defeat mouz.
‘Quality’ might not be the right word here, considering they have very talented individuals in the roster; the problem lies in a lack of leadership, seeing how FaZe don’t have a genuine IGL that would be able to lead the team.
Mousesports – -188.68
Mousesports did not look as dominant as some had hoped against BIG (2-1) on day one, but Finn “karrigan” Andersen and his squad still managed to grab the win with relative ease.
Overall, mousesports can be described as a team on the rise, as they proved at DreamHack Masters Malmo when they finished in fifth-sixth place following a closely fought 1-2 defeat to Team Vitality.
The odds on mousesports here are more than fair for one simple reason: they have karrigan, who is not only a great IGL but also a former member of FaZe, meaning he knows the opposition inside and out.
Prediction: mousesports to win – Best odds at BetOnline
Mouz are favourites for good reason.
While FaZe managed to put up a good show against BIG, they clearly lack leadership and don’t look like a well-organized team.
Having five star players can take you only so far, whereas a good IGL will make a big difference, and we believe that will show on Thursday.
BIG vs OpTic Gaming
Thursday, October 10 – 21:15 BST
BIG – -227.27
The German outfit will arrive at this match hungry for a win following their defeat against FaZe, and they will surely fancy their chances against an OpTic side that has failed to impress so far.
BIG lost their first match of the group stage against mousesports (1-2) and the second against FaZe (1-2). While it’s hard to praise a team who lost twice, we believe BIG have enough quality to triumph here.
They did struggle a bit against FaZe on Wednesday, but it’s hard to see how they won’t have an easy time against OpTic.
OpTic Gaming – +162
The main problem with OpTic is a lack of overall quality in the team.
While Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen and Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke are two very solid players, the rest of the squad does no inspire confidence – especially considering OpTic are entering ESL Pro League with a stand-in.
René “cajunb” Borg can have his moments of greatness, but his performances overall are mediocre at most.
Prediction: BIG to win – Best odds at BetOnline
It’s hard to argue with the odds here, which show BIG as strong favourites to defeat OpTic.
BIG might not be the hottest team in Group A, seeing how they lost to FaZe and mousesports, but they surely are not worse compared to OpTic. At least not against OpTic in the state they are in now.
BIG needs to win this one badly, and if both sides put up their best show, we are confident BIG will triumph.
