The ESL Pro League Season 17 Playoffs begin with a bang with four huge opening round matches. There are plenty of well known teams looking to emerge as the best team in the League in 2023.

There were plenty of surprises in the Group Stage of this event and now the playoffs are ready to begin. With four very important first round matchups. Many of the favourites to win the whole event will play in the days to come, but there are plenty of top level teams in action on the opening day.

FURIA and fnatic will be a match to watch as both teams have been a yearly participant in the ESL Pro League. Tuesday's action will also see G2 Esports, Movistar Riders, Natus Vincere, 00Nation in action. The final match-up of the day will be paiN Gaming and Team Liquid.

Let's take a closer look at the matchups.

FURIA has slight edge

Brazil's top CS:GO team FURIA will try to advance to the second round by taking out Fnatic in the opening match of the playoffs. FURIA is coming in off a good run in their last four matches winning three of the four.

As for Fnatic they went 2-2 in their last four matches overall. The player match-up to keep an eye on is KSCERATO for FURIA and nicoodoz for Fnatic. 

KSCERATO has been a good performer as of late with a rating of 1.31. He is also averaging 0.77 kills per round. Both teams will be ready to fight, and a very close battle should be expected, but leaning FURIA at 8/11 is the right play for this match-up.

G2 should cover without trouble

G2 Esports struggled in their last head-to-head meeting with Movistar Riders, as the Spanish organization was able to secure a convincing win. That win came during IEM Cologne 2022. G2 looks to have rebuilt itself since then with a strong core of players.

The top players being NiKo and jks. Martinez has been the top player as of late for Movistar but his numbers aren't quite up to the level of NiKo's recent stats. That could be the bid difference in this match-up.

G2 has won its last two matches coming in and they have done so pretty convincingly. Expect G2 to not only win this match outright but also cover at 2/7.

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Natus should cover easily against 00NATION

00NATION is in for a tough assignment as they draw Natus Vincere in the first round of the playoffs. The Brazilian squad has had a strong run-on maps such as Mirage, Inferno and Nuke. They also enter on a three-match winning streak.

Natus Vincere has also found its rhythm with a three-match winning streak. Their most recent victory was a 2-0 over Team Spirit, which sent that team home. This marks a first time meeting for 00NATION and Natus Vincere. S1mple will be the player that 00NATION will have to find a way to limit.

That task is going to be a hard thing to accomplish, as s1mple has been a great player for years now. His numbers are a bit down this season, but he is still a player of the year capable performer. 

00NATION has shown promise, but that won't be enough, as Natus Vincere knows all about getting the job done in win or go home matches. Taking Na'Vi to cover at 4/9 is a must play.

paiN incoming for Team Liquid

The final match pairing of the day is between paiN Gaming and Team Liquid. Both teams had a tough path to get to this point, but nonetheless they are here. 

It has been a good couple of matches for paiN Gaming as they have won their last three matches in a row. Liquid has won two matches straight after facing near elimination against Rare Atom.

Liquid hasn't had very good luck in recent history against paiN as they lost the last head-to-head match in three maps. 

It was a tough match-up much like this time looks to be. NAF and EliGE are very experienced players for Liquid, but paiN Gaming has had their number. It's a tight spread line, but paiN Gaming is the better play at 5/6 to cover +1.5.

bet365 News Team

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