OWL Kickoff Clash betting predictions – Friday, June 3

ESB’s free esports betting picks for Friday, June 3, include a pair of East division matches in the Overwatch League (OWL) Kickoff Clash. Here are our selections for Philadelphia Fusion vs Hangzhou Spark and Shanghai Dragons vs Seoul Dynasty, with odds courtesy of the top-rated esports bookies.


In the first round the OWL Kickoff Clash, Hangzhou Spark will meet the fourth-seeded Philadelphia Fusion for the second time this season. The two Overwatch League East teams last met on May 29, when the Spark won 3-2 in an extremely close affair.

Philadelphia Fusion took the series lead with 2-1 on Ilios, lost the next two maps with 5-6 on Route 66 and 1-2 on King’s Row, bounced back with a 67.85-62.62 victory on Colosseo, but slipped in the fifth map with 1-2 on Lijiang Tower. Considering how close that match was, Fusion should have a realistic chance to defeat the Spark this week, but the esports betting sites seem to disagree.

Hangzhou Spark are priced as -227.27 favourites, translating to a 69.4% implied probability of winning, which may seem high, but there is a good reason why we believe the figure is fair. The Fusion are one of the biggest underperformers in OWL tournaments, and have been for the past two years. No matter how good the Fusion look during the regular season, they seem to always find a way to choke in tournaments.

There is a world where Philadelphia are now a more stable team, but until they show that, we will continue to doubt them.


The reigning Overwatch League champions, Shanghai Dragons, finished the OWL Kickoff Clash qualifiers in second place with a 5-1 record and a +4 map difference (-4 behind the Spark). Their next opponents, Seoul Dynasty, were slightly less successful (4-2), mainly because they struggled against the top OWL East teams in the Spark (1-3) and the Dragons (1-3).

Shanghai defeated Seoul on Sunday, so it’s fair to say they are the most likely victors of this clash. However, we have to note that the Dragons were a bit lucky to defeat the Dynasty with two maps to spare, seeing how the final map (Push) was decided in overtime by 0.01 meters (70.80–70.81).

Shanghai Dragons are still rightly priced as the favourites with Overwatch bookmakers, but they have a habit of dropping unnecessary maps and have played a handful of close series during the qualifiers. This game feels very up in the air, so we’ll take a shot on Seoul Dynasty to get their revenge and defeat Shanghai Dragons 3-2.


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