Esports World Cup CS2 opening stage betting tips – Wednesday, July 17

ESB’s free Counter-Strike 2 betting predictions for the opening stage of Esports World Cup 2024 on Wednesday, July 17. Here are our selections for MOUZ vs Sashi Esports, Natus Vincere vs FURIA Esports, G2 Esports vs The MongolZ, and FaZe Clan vs FlyQuest.

Sashi Esports travel to Saudi Arabia following a runner-up finish at Elisa Invitational Spring 2024, a title run at Dust2.dk Ligaen Season 26 and another final appearance at Skin.Club Summer Cup 2024. Even though the Danes have faced mostly weaker teams recently, they hold a respectable 70% win rate over the last three months.

Likewise, MOUZ have done well this season, winning ESL Pro League Season 19 and BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024. However, they were not as successful in their most recent competitive endeavour when they exited Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024 in 9th-12th place.

MOUZ are the superior team but have not played a match since late May. The rust shouldn’t prevent them from winning; however, Sashi Esports to steal a map at +169 is a far more inviting choice.

Before the summer break, Natus Vincere placed second at BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024, adding another strong tournament placement to their resume for the year.

FURIA Esports have not accomplished anything nearly as notable this season; however, they showed some improvement in June with a semifinal run at YaLLa Compass 2024. At the start of the month, FURIA signed Felipe “skillz” Medeiros from Team Liquid and made some changes to the coaching personnel, acquiring Viacheslav “innersh1ne” Britvin and Hunter “Lucid” Tucker as assistant coaches.

Even with the adjustments, FURIA Esports shouldn’t seriously threaten Natus Vincere. However, considering NaVi are notorious for starting tournaments slowly, and both teams are a bit rusty, a closer game is likely on the cards.

Esports World Cup CS2 betting guide

G2 Esports have made a couple of roster changes during the summer break, adding Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski and Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa to the active lineup as replacements for Nemanja “nexa” Isaković and Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen. Although quality players, the signings raise a few questions, mainly concerning the role distribution.

The MongolZ have been making noise on European soil since the turn of the year and even won YaLLa Compass 2024. The Mongolian squad have fallen short in bigger events, but even there, they’ve made their presence known with some resilient performances.

The best esports betting sites have G2 Esports fairly priced as favourites, but since this is a new roster that will need time to adjust, a wager on the underdogs is worth considering.

FlyQuest performed well at ESL Pro League Season 19. But since then, they have not shown much, with a last-place finish at Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2024 and a narrow victory in the ESL Challenger League Season 47 Oceania finals.

FaZe Clan’s tournament runs before the break weren’t that great either, with top-six finishes at IEM Dallas 2024 and BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024. However, this is still the same lineup that won IEM Chengdu 2024 and placed second at the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024.

Fixtures after breaks tend to be more volatile and unpredictable. But even with that in mind, fading FaZe Clan against FlyQuest does not make much sense.

Esports betting tips