Fnatic vs. Astralis – Friday, September 18th, 2020

The late matchup in Group B of the ESL Pro League’s European division offers us a Scandinavian derby between Fnatic and Astralis.

The Danish squad is looking reenergized and has a great chance of catching up to group leaders Complexity, while their Swedish opponents will be looking to stay in the race for the playoffs.

So, how will this latest bout between these squads pan out?

I answer this question by looking at the value of the latest odds and sharing an in-depth account of the organizations’ most recent exploits.

You can find a free Fnatic vs. Astralis betting pick in the end, but let’s first check out the prices.

10Bet’s sportsbook has rolled out odds for the main betting markets and here is how things stand at the minute:

Given how the teams have performed so far, I find that these prices give a fair reflection of what we can expect, but to understand which option gives you the most value, let’s head to my analysis section and then wrap things up with my final pick.

I would say that the Swedes are performing as expected so far.

They were always going to have trouble in this highly-competitive Group B given how inconsistent they’ve been for months now and losses against Vitality, Complexity, and mousesports confirm that the team is still some way off from returning to the Top 10 bracket.

Wins against Spirit and FaZe Clan are still keeping their head above the water, however, they will need to find a higher gear if they don’t want to be steamrolled in this next matchup.

The hope lies with Brollan who has been easily Fnatic’s best player at the tournament so far, but I’m eager to see how captain Golden will approach the decisive rounds as this will be the key for toppling an inspired Astralis side.

The Danes continued their fine form with a clean win over NiP in the last round and now stand a good chance of eventually topping the group.

The momentum is definitely on their side as the roster has looked completely revitalized after the return of their in-game leader gla1ve.

Key pieces device and Magisk have been unplayable at times and we should also congratulate new addition es3tag for his brilliant performances against the likes of mousesports and Vitality.

The team still has a lot to improve on to get back to the top spots in the rankings but they are definitely hard to stop when they get rolling like that.

It is a crunch game for Fnatic as a loss here will almost certainly mean they’re out of the playoffs.

However, I can’t see them finding the resources to stage any kind of meaningful resistance against Astralis here.

The Danes are looking dominant and as random as this tournament has been, I feel they’re in the zone right now and have no intention of taking the foot off the gas.

Everything is coming off for them now and given how inconsistent Fnatic can be, I just can’t look past the handicap market for Astralis.

Everything over +100 gives you great value, so that’s what I’m going with here.

This concludes my Fnatic vs. Astralis betting preview but if you’re interested in betting on more CS:GO matchups, you can also check out the below prediction: