Nordavind vs. forZe Preview & Prediction - Free CS:GO Betting Picks 8/8

The FunSpark ULTI 2020 - European Qualifier is set to begin, and we have a Group A match upcoming between forZe and Nordavind. The 16 team qualifier participants are broken into two groups of eight for the Group Stage in which they take part in a GSL format group with the opening matches being single map while every game afterwards will be a best of three match series. The winner of each group will earn a bid to the FunSpark ULTI 2020 where some of the best teams in the world will compete for their share of $300,000 USD.

The Russian powerhouse of forZe is the pretty decent favorite here, and they come in ranking 28th in the world. They've won 64.4% of their matches over the past three months as they attempt to climb back up the rankings. There have been some very questionable losses along the way for forZe, but they've really been playing at their peak lately. Vertigo is a regular ban for them, and they are strong on a decent amount of maps despite struggling with Overpass and Train.

Their opponent for this match will be the mixed-bag European roster of Nordavind. They enter as the 38th ranked, and they were riding a win streak before falling in back-to-back sweeps to NAVI Junior and Gambit Youngsters, although no one is going to hold a loss to Gambit Youngsters over their heads. Nordavind normally bans Train with their first map ban, and they struggle with Overpass as well. However, they have put forth strong results on all other maps and could potentially be a live underdog here.

Pick: Over 27.5 Rounds (+106 @ Pinnacle)

I am all over the over in this single map contest. I've mentioned plenty of times in the past that the majority of single map games will fall on either a map both teams want to play or a map that neither want to play. What this tends to translate in to is very closely contests matchups. These two rosters have met each other quite a few times in the past as they've played nine total maps against each other. These teams failed to top 27 rounds in only two of those nine meetings, and this strong trend will continue here as this one will come down to the wire.