Fnatic vs. Vitality Odds, Prediction, and Pick for May 2nd – ESL One: Road to Rio

My CS:GO predictions for today concentrate on Group A of the ESL One European qualifiers and I start off with a look at the matchup between Fnatic and Team Vitality.

These organizations last contested a playoff decider match in which Fnatic clinched a solid win and eventually went on to win the title. And it will be very interesting to see whether the Frenchmen are ready to mount a more serious challenge this time around.

My Fnatic vs. Vitality preview for May 2nd highlights the main betting markets that the top esports bookmakers have rolled out and provides analysis on both teams.

I then share my thoughts on how the tie might pan out and give you a free betting pick in the end.

The odds below are courtesy of 10bet’s sportsbook and they have some juicy options on display.

Fnatic is the overwhelming favorite coming into the tie but anything is possible when you have a player like ZywOo on your team.

Let’s move on to my analysis and see if the Frenchmen can defy the odds here.

The Swedes have been a bit inconsistent since winning the ESL Pro League but they are still very much in the playoff hunt.

Team ENCE’s gritty performance in the first round was enough to hand Fnatic an opening day defeat, however, Golden and his team quickly improved to gun down top dogs Astralis in the second round of the ESL qualifiers.

Then came another lackluster performance against countrymen Dignitas. The team was always in the tie but allowed the underdogs to snatch a thrilling tiebreak on Inferno and then were narrowly edged on Dust II in the third round.

They also went through a scare in their latest game against Team Heretics when they lost on Nuke but they stuck to their plan on Inferno and then easily brushed them aside on Overpass.

Can Vitality take advantage of the ESL Pro League champions’ shaky form at present?  

The Frenchmen boast a similar record coming into their fifth fixture of the ESL One qualifiers.

They racked up comfortable wins against Dignitas and Complexity Gaming with ZywOo’s elite skills on Nuke, Inferno, and Dust II being the major highlight.

The player has been superb so far but his solo efforts weren’t enough when his team faced superior opposition in NiP and Astralis.

Vitality needs their whole roster to produce here as even with Fnatic’s recent troubles, the Swedes remain a top force and will not be beaten by the efforts of ZywOo alone.

The underdogs do have their chances here but I’m heavily leaning towards Fnatic and here is why.

The Swedes have won their last three meetings with Vitality and there have been some hammerings in there.

You might say that they have not been in top form since the start of the ESL One: Road to Rio event but it’s also true that a lot of the troubles have come on Dust II and today’s opponents are not exactly specialists there either.

Fnatic holds an advantage on every other map except Vertigo and they are much better in clutch moments.

On top of that, Vitality seems to rely heavily on their key player while others on the roster have had sub-par performances throughout the tournament and I fell they won’t be able to bring their A-game against Golden’s tactically astute team.

It’s time for a solid Fnatic win and the odds for a 2:0 victory are simply too good to turn down.

We have prepared more esports predictions for today so don’t hesitate to look through all of them before deciding on your bets.