Week 3 throws up some interesting matchups due to the visa issues plaguing players in the league. Here we take you through the best of day 1 and give you our opinions on the games.
Thursday 28th January
Origen (4/11 bet365 vs Roccat (2/1 Coral) – 18:00 CET
Week 2 for Origen was only marginally better than week 1, as at least they managed to pick up a win against a UoL squad that have been looking strong so far this split. Being 1 – 3 at this point will not have been part of the plan for Peke and co, and their improvement between weeks was slow. Roccat on the other hand will not be losing as much sleep over a slightly slower start, as their brand new roster needs time to settle in. Add this to the fact that their sole win came over a strong Vitality line up, things aren’t looking too bad for Roccat.
This game is difficult to call, as neither team has set the league alight so far this year, but neither team lacks skill either. We expect to see Origen continue to improve week by week, whereas Roccat are somewhat of a less known quantity; we don’t know where their ceiling is, or whether they are close to hitting it yet. Considering the odds on this game, it may be worth going for a Roccat upset win here, and when you weigh up the season so far it wouldn’t necessarily be much of an upset.
One real difficulty for Roccat will be the lack of their starting support, Edward, who has been lost to potential visa issues. Despite this, we expect their sub, extinkt, who has impressed in the LCS previously with NiP, to do a good enough job to see Roccat put up a decent performance.
Bookies seem to be favouring Origen strongly here, and with how close the game is in our eyes the better value bet would be with Roccat. Going to go for Roccat to take the win here, as they have enough skill to take down an as of yet unsettled Origen roster.
Recommended Bet:
Roccat to win with Coral at 2/1 (3.0)
H2K (5/6 bet365) vs Team Vitality (EVS William Hill) – 21:00 CET
H2K and Vitality both sit where we would expect after the first two weeks, at the top of the league. This early in the season suffering a surprise loss is understandable even for elite teams, and Vitality suffered exactly that at the hands of Roccat in week 1, whereas H2K’s undefeated start was ended by the also strong Fnatic.
This matchup is interesting stylistically as both teams favour a rotational style of play, and this matchup could become a battle of shot calling between these two teams. If either team is to take an advantage in the laning phase, again we are looking to the mid lane to make the difference; it is currently unclear whether or not Ryu will be able to play for H2K due, as with Edward, to visa issues. If this is the case and H2K have to run with a short notice substitute, we would like to see Vitality pressure that mid lane matchup and make the sub sweat, as it will be harder for H2K to haul a new player out of a hole in mid than it would for somebody who has been part of the squad for the start of the split.
If Ryu ends up playing, this matchup will be very close. If Ryu doesn’t play, then we favour Team Vitality here. Our recommended bet reflects the likelihood Ryu IS NOT playing, so make sure to monitor team news before this game.
Recommended Bet:
Team Vitality to win with William Hill at Evens (2.0)
By: Arron “King Dempz” Dempsey – @arrondempers
Top 5 Betting Sites
© 2016 LeagueofLegendsBetting.com