LEC 2021 Summer betting predictions – Friday, July 16

ESB’s League of Legends betting predictions for Friday, July 16 focus on three LoL European Championship (LEC) 2021 Summer bouts. Here, we take a look at the best bets on offer for Misfits Gaming vs Excel Esports, SK Gaming vs MAD Lions, and Schalke 04 vs Rogue.


Misfits Gaming enter this match following their first 0-2 week of the summer season when the Bunnies lost to Rogue and Astralis. Misfits are now 7-4 on the season, which is still good, but you have to feel slightly worried about Misfits’ regression.

Misfits were a force to be reckoned with early into the split, and while they are still playing relatively well, it feels like Misfits have stagnated while other LEC playoffs contenders are improving. One of those teams are Excel Esports, who have found an entirely new identity with the introduction of jungler Mark “Markoon” van Woensel and support Henk “Advienne” Reijenga.

The two rookies are playing exceptionally well, and as a result, the team looks far more organised and efficient. Excel have gone 0-2 last week, but they had to face MAD Lions and Rogue, so it doesn’t make much sense to overreact to those losses.

You could argue that Excel are experiencing a honeymoon phase with the new arrivals, which usually leads to regression. However, the eye test would prove that Excel are fundamentally much stronger. We like the outsiders with a kill handicap, but you can’t go wrong with a smaller position on the moneyline market either.


SK Gaming are 2-9 on the season, which should make it very clear where this roster is relative to the rest of the league. They won against Schalke 04 last week, but it was more Schalke underperforming rather than SK Gaming showing anything remarkable.

What’s more, SK Gaming hold some of the lowest numbers in almost all metrics. That includes Average Gold Spent Percentage Difference (-8.1% GSPD), Mid-Late Game Rating (-28.3 MLR), and Gold Difference at 15 (-1123 GD15).

MAD Lions aren’t the same powerhouse they were during the spring season, but they are a class above SK. They have better individual players in all positions, particularly in the bottom lane, and are far more efficient in the mid-late game. Expect an easy win for the reigning LEC champions.


Like the SK Gaming vs MAD Lions clash, this one is a fixture featuring one of the best and worst teams in the league. While Schalke 04 have enough talent to compete for a playoffs spot, the amount of errors this team is making is just shocking.

And it’s not only poor decision making, but primarily individual mistakes, questionable engages and poor laning performance. Those were most notable in S04’s loss to SK Gaming last week.

Rogue are an entirely different team in the sense that they rarely make mistakes. Rogue might lose a few games, but it is never because they made a poor call or because one of their players threw the game. With Rogue, you always know what you’re going to get.

Schalke 04 are priced as +297 underdogs, which is fair. They should have no business winning this game unless they make roster changes, and even then, it’s unlikely that S04 will manage to achieve much. Expect a low-scoring match with Rogue slowly choking S04 out with superior macro play.