With the halfway point passed, week five of the LEC Summer marks the beginning of the next round robin, with Europe's best set to take on the teams they clashed with at the very start of the event.
As was the case at the end of the LEC Spring group stage Rogue lead the way in the regular standings. They are closely followed by MAD Lions, while at the other end of the table Team BDS and SK Gaming will be looking to turn their seasons around.
| What | LEC Summer |
| Where | Germany (Offline) |
| When | 17:00-20:00, Friday 22nd July 2022 |
| How to watch | LEC Youtube & Twitch channels and bet365 Sports Live Streaming |
SK Gaming can begin ascent with victory over BDS
At first glance this appears to be a scrappy battle at the bottom of the LEC Summer, with SK Gaming ninth and Team BDS tenth in the standings heading in week five.
But, while Team BDS have lost eight of their nine matches, SK Gaming have at least picked up three wins and two of those triumphs came recently in week four, when they saw off LEC Spring champions G2 Esports and Misfits Gaming.
With form on their side, they are worth a bet to win this one at 8/15.
Misfits and Excel tough to separate
Looking only at the form guide, Misfits Gaming would be the obvious bet to win this clash, having bounced back from starting the season with a 0-4 record to win five matches on the spin.
That has moved them into contention for a top-two berth and they would fancy their chances of going toe-to-toe with Excel Esports, who also have a 5-4 record, but who failed to win either of their matches in week four.
However, this is likely to be a tight contest and it is best to swerve the match result markets. Instead, Misfits will like to take it the distance and that could result in a high overall kill count. Back over 25.5 kills in Map 1 at 1/1.
Kill count likely to be high in top-of-the-table tussle
This is a key contest in the battle for the playoffs, with MAD Lions going into the match in second spot with a 6-3 record and Team Vitality also impressing with a 5-4 winning record.
It could be tough to pick a winner - especially as marginal underdogs Vitality looked so sharp in their latest win over Fnatic - and the best way to go in this one is over 24.5 in the total kills market in Map 1 at 5/6.
Vitality's most recent encounter with Fnatic produced 28 kills and this game could be a long one.
Inconsistent G2 set for closer contest with Danes
It has been a strange Split for G2 Esports, who came into the LEC Summer as reigning European champions after their LEC Spring playoff triumph and started on the front foot.
Indeed, in their opener against Astralis, they had a gold lead of up to 7k and secured victory in only 32 minutes.
That set the tone for a strong start as they went 3-0 in week one, but results have since been inconsistent and they now have a 4-5 record - the same as Astralis, who they face again this week.
But it is important to remember how dominant G2 were when these sides met only a month ago and although results have been going against them, the team have been in good spirits on social media.
They should still win this, but it could be tighter than that opening-week encounter and the better bet is Astralis at +8.5 on the map one kill handicap at 5/6.
