Despite inconsistencies in their current form, Navi is poised to get Group D’s top seed in ESL Pro League which will guarantee them a quarter-final spot in a tough playoff bracket.
Navi is priced at 3.25 with online bookmaker bet365. Meanwhile, Team Liquid is at 4.33 right behind the Ukrainian squad.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: March 14th, 10:30 A.M. (EST)
The latest addition to the Navi roster, npl from their academy team, showed promise after notching a semi-final finish in IEM Katowice that was no small feat despite falling to Heroic in 2-0 fashion without looking like there was much of a fight from the Navi side.
It is evident that they are still trying to make up for the lost firepower they had to take after star rifler electronic took up the igl mantle following Boombl4’s controversial departure from the roster. HLTV 2022 number 1 player S1mple has to go big if Navi is to win it all.
On the other hand, Team Liquid has really struggled to put their awper oSee to great use. Similar to Navi, Team Liquid ended their Katowice run in the semi-finals where they lost to the eventual winners G2. They were on the wrong end of a very strong run with G2 firing on all cylinders. The team did manage to push G2 to the edge with both maps being very close however in the end they sufferred a 2-0 defeat.
Also it is worthy to mention that oSee is currently posing a 1.00 rating, which is poor considering he carries the most expensive gun for the squad. Team Liquid will need all three of their rifles to step up. The trio of EliGE, NAF, and YEKINDAR is certainly up for that task.
Astralis missed out on Katowice after falling in their qualifier round. This will be the first ESL LAN for the team’s superstar Awper who missed the past year due to mental health issues. Dev1ce has been in great form and will certainly want to reach the playoffs in his first LAN back. Astralis has been relying on Dev1ce as well as rifler BlameF to carry them with their sheer talent as the rest of the squad has yet to pick up their slack in terms of fragging.
Only four teams will make it to the playoffs and with ENCE and Team Spirit also in the group, it will be very tough for teams to make it through. The upsets in the first three groups have shown that anything can happen in one of CSGO’s biggest events of the year.
Will Navi show up and claim the top seed? Or will Team Liquid snatch the quarter-final berth away from their jaws?
