by ESL Pro League Season 17 Group D kicks off on Wednesday, March 15, and here you can find our top picks for the day. Check out our selections for forZe vs Natus Vincere and Team Spirit vs Astralis, with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting odds courtesy of BetOnline.
FORZE vs NATUS VINCERE CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | forZe +500 at BetOnline | NaVi -909.09 at BetOnline |
| When: | March 15, 2023 | 16:00 CET |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ESL_CSGO) |
Natus Vincere and forZe last met in April 2022, during the PGL Major Antwerp 2022 European RMR A, when NaVi secured a comfortable 2-0 win en route to the Major finals. But the Ukrainian team was much stronger back then.
After a rough patch, we saw a bit of a resurgence from NaVi earlier this year when they reached the semifinals of Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2023. However, they need to show more to convince anyone of their ESL Pro League title credentials.
Natus Vincere have better players than forZe, but they’re not the same beast they were in 2021 or early into 2022. Moreover, NaVi haven’t played an official match in over a month and are notorious for starting tournaments slowly.
At the offered CS:GO betting odds, forZe to win one map makes the most sense. They can be competitive in big events such as the ESL Pro League, and facing a rusty NaVi – who are still finding their new identity – will give them a perfect chance to prove it.
forZe +1.5 maps
TEAM SPIRIT vs ASTRALIS CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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|---|---|
| Best Odds: | Spirit +110 at BetOnline | Astralis -151.52 at BetOnline |
| When: | March 15, 2023 | 16:00 CET |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ESL_CSGO) |
Team Spirit enter this match as +110 underdogs with esports betting sites, which is interesting to see – not necessarily because Spirit are very strong, but rather because Astralis aren’t. Even though Astralis are still highly respected, the Danes are not playing at their best.
Astralis are 9-1 over their last 10 outings, with just two notable wins against OG (2-1) and Ninjas in Pyjamas (2-1). Still, even those minor achievements are overshadowed by unconvincing victories against EYEBALLERS (2-1), Aurora (2-1), and SAW (2-1).
In terms of tournament results, Team Spirit are in a similar spot; they’ve won two events since the start of 2022 and haven’t beaten any strong teams recently. So even though Spirit are not stronger than Astralis, they’re not that much worse.
This should be a close series between two struggling teams, so we’ll put our money on over 2.5 maps.
