by ESB brings you free Counter-Strike: Global Offensive betting picks for three Intel Extreme Masters Katowice 2023 group stage matches on Saturday, February 4. Here are our picks for Cloud9 vs Natus Vincere, G2 Esports vs BIG, and OG vs MOUZ, with CS:GO betting odds courtesy of BetOnline.
CLOUD9 vs NATUS VINCERE CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | C9 -138.89 at BetOnline | NAVI +100 at BetOnline |
| When: | February 4, 2023 | 12:30 CET |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ESL_CSGO) |
Cloud9 and Natus Vincere will lock horns in the opening match of IEM Katowice 2023, marking their first meeting since IEM Rio Major in November, when Cloud9 edged out a 16-14 victory. The Russian squad have since played just two official matches, against Heroic (2-0) and MOUZ (1-2), which is a concern.
But despite travelling to Poland a bit rusty, Cloud9 have all the right to feel confident in their chances to hoist the trophy. With the signing of Timur “buster” Tulepov, Cloud9 now fields the strongest CIS roster we’ve seen in years, and if they click, C9 could make a deep run in Katowice.
On the other side, Natus Vincere travel to Katowice looking much weaker than one year ago when they made it to the semifinals. A stretch of poor results which began in September saw NaVi underdeliver in a handful of big events, and their fourth-sixth place finishes at BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023 last week leaves little to feel excited about.
NaVi should capitalise on C9’s lack of games ahead of this tournament, but they’ve not shown enough for us to trust them with our money. Cloud9 at -138.89 is the right play.
Cloud9 to win
G2 ESPORTS vs BIG CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | G2 -500 at BetOnline | BIG +333 at BetOnline |
| When: | February 4, 2023 | 16:00 CET |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ESL_CSGO) |
G2 Esports are due to emerge as the top team in the world, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see them hoist the trophy at Spodek Arena. They had a few shaky displays last season, but G2 Esports ended the year strong, winning BLAST Premier World Final 2022, to which they added another title at Spring Groups 2023 at the end of January.
G2’s sudden resurgence isn’t that shocking since this roster has the needed talent. And with Nikola “NiKo” Kovač averaging a 1.25 rating over the last three months (1.48 last month), G2 Esports will be tough to stop.
BIG can be a dangerous team to face, even for the world’s top squads, but they’re not at the same level as G2. We saw the German squad defeat Team Liquid (2-0) during Spring Groups, but they’ve also lost against Ninjas in Pyjamas (0-2) and G2 (0-2).
As the latest CS:GO betting odds suggest, this is G2 Esports’ game to lose. And we have no reason to argue with that.
G2 Esports -1.5 maps
OG vs MOUZ CS:GO BETTING & MATCH DETAILS |
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| Best Odds: | OG -138.89 at BetOnline | BIG +100 at BetOnline |
| When: | February 4, 2023 | 19:30 CET |
| Watch Live: | Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ESL_CSGO) |
OG made it through IEM Katowice 2023 play-in stage, but it took a reverse sweep against Fnatic (2-1) in the final round. Before that, OG also needed overtime to defeat Sprout (19-16), which doesn’t inspire much confidence ahead of the main stage.
MOUZ didn’t have to fight through the play-in, but perhaps playing a few games would be beneficial. We haven’t seen MOUZ in action since the Rio Major, where they reached the semifinals and lost against the eventual champions, Outsiders (1-2).
Even though MOUZ impressed in Brazil, we wouldn’t say that MOUZ have a realistic chance of making a deep run in Katowice. And they aren’t that much stronger than OG. If we ignore the teams’ record, it’s fair to say that OG and MOUZ are equal talent-wise, so it’s easy to side with OG at plus money. Alternatively, a wager on over 2.5 maps is a solid choice.
