FURIA vs. Natus Vincere, Preview & Prediction - Free 2/20 CS:GO

Natus Vincere is a massive favorite in this Best of 3 encounter when they meet FURIA in the Group B upper bracket semi-final of the IEM Katowice 2021 on Saturday. The winner of this game will progress to the Group B Upper final and take on a winning team of the duel between Liquid and Vitality. On the other hand, the loser of this clash will drop down to the Lower bracket and face a winner from the match between OG and FaZe.

FURIA Team Stats and Latest Results

FURIA dropped out of the top 10 teams in the CS:GO after unsuccessful campaigns at the BLAST Premier Global Final 2020 and cs_summit 7. They suffered four losses and recorded only two wins at those two tournaments, which wasn’t enough to stay among the top 10 in the rankings. The Brazilians displayed a much better performance against NIP in the opening game of the IEM Katowice 2021 and secured a convincing 2-0 win. FURIA lost seven of the previous 11 matches.

When it comes to the maps in the last three months, FURIA was unbeaten on Train (played three times) and Vertigo (played once), while they failed to impress on Overpass (28.6% win rate) and Nuke (35.7%). FURIA is playing this tournament with a new lineup that was assembled in February and played on just two maps, recording both wins over NIP. The team members are arT (1.00 rating), yuurih (1.14), VINI (1.01), junior (1.14), and KSCERATO (1.11).

Natus Vincere Team Stats and Latest Results

Natus Vincere climbed up to the top spot in the CS:GO rankings thanks to victorious campaigns at the BLAST Premier Global Final 2020 and BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2021. After losing the opening match at the BLAST Premier Global Final 2020, NaVi defeated Complexity, G2, Liquid, Vitality, and Astralis in the Grand Final to win a trophy and $600,000. The Russian team didn’t stop there as they beat MIBR and FaZe twice to get $25,000 a ticket for the BLAST Premier Spring Final. At the IEM Katowice 2021, Natus Vincere secured a 2-0 win over Virtus.pro. Natus Vincere won 11 of the last 13 games.

In the previous three months, Natus Vincere was strong on Nuke (80.0%) and Dust2 (75.0%), while they were below average only on Overpass (33.3%). Since November 2020, NaVi is playing with the same squad that appeared on 40 maps with a record of 27 wins and 13 losses. The lineup is made of flamie (0.96), s1mple (1.37), electronic (1.12), Boombl4 (0.99), and Perfecto (1.03).

FURIA vs. Natus Vincere H2H Record

These rivals have met on three occasions before, and Natus Vincere won all three matches, without dropping a single map in the process.

FURIA vs. Natus Vincere Betting Preview

Not only that NaVi never suffered a defeat against FURIA, but they are also in much better form at the moment and I think they will not have problems securing a victory here. If you like to take a bit of risk, I suggest you go with Natus Vincere to cover a -1.5 spread at +109, but if you prefer betting with safety, go with NaVi’s straight win.

The Pick: Natus Vincere to win (-286 @betway)