Format: BO1.
On June 3, Extra Salt and G2 eSports will play their opening match at IEM Summer 2021. The French team was once again one step away from the final at this past tournament, and I think that fact should start to make Niko and Ko angry. Will G2 eSports be able to get off to a winning start to the tournament or will the underdogs surprise?
Extra Salt: Not their best tournament
Extra Salt did not perform well at the last cs_summit. The team only finished in fifth place, which cannot be good for them. Extra Salt won Group B with two wins in a row, but lost in the playoffs to FURIA and could only settle for fifth place. At the last European tournament, Extra Salt played a poor game. They finished in last place in the tournament, without winning a single match. Before that, Extra Salt played in the Spring Sweet Spring, where they also had no luck and finished only in 13th-15th place. Although the line-up of participants was mostly from the European tier-2 scene and allowed for better performance.
At the last tournaments, Extra Salt tried to play several maps at once and Nuke, Vertigo, Overpass were often used as their picks. Nuke and Vertigo should stay in this encounter until the end as the teams will have to choose just one decisive map. The French will have the advantage on both of these maps. G2 Esports are at a higher level than Extra Salt, especially considering how the French have added to their game lately. Also, a map that is likely to remain in the bo1 meeting will be very convenient for the French. G2 Esports look very strong on Vertigo and Nuke and even on Nuke, where they lost their last three matches, the game was shown to be of a very high standard.
G2 eSports: They must go further
G2 eSports were once again one step away from the final. This time, the team failed to make it to the Flashpoint final, although they were pretty close to it. Nevertheless, the French are a little short, but it is still worth admitting that so far the team has been consistently climbing up the HLTV rankings, which means the French are doing everything right.
G2 eSports have been consistently at the top of the European CS:GO’s lately. The team has only lost to the best of the best, except for NiP. So the match against Extra Salt should not be a big problem for the French, especially considering the possible maps. I have little faith that Extra Salt have had time to prepare Ancient and the bo1 encounter will come down to it. In general, it seems to me that the new map will only appear in bo3 matches. In bo1, it looks too risky for any team and can only suit the clear outsider. Extra Salt are the underdog of the match, but not so much that they see their only chance as Ancient.
Expert Betting Tips
Extra Salt with the European teams look very weak. The guys can’t even beat dash-2 squads from Europe, what to say about the team, which now ranks fourth in the HLTV rankings. Also, in bo1, the French are sure to get a very comfortable map for themselves, which means the chance of a surprise result is minimized.
The bookmakers are offering odds of 1.87 on G2 eSports to win with a handicap (-3.5), which looks like a good option.
Other predictions
