One of the fiercest League of Legends divisions in the world - the LPL - is back, with the LPL Spring already into the fifth week of action in 2023.
It is becoming noticeable which teams are set for the playoffs - LNG Esports, Top Esports and Edward Gaming have all made fine starts - and which are down and out already - Anyone's Legend have lost all of their opening seven matches.
And on Saturday more will become clear with a triple-header of matches, including a top-of-the-table tussle between Invictus Gaming and JD Gaming.
Elsewhere, Rare Atom lock horns with Bilibili Gaming, while struggling Ultra Prime take on an inconsistent Weibo Gaming side.
Invictus can push out-of-sorts JD Gaming
| What | Invictus Gaming vs JD Gaming |
| Where | China |
| When | 07.00, Saturday 18th February |
| How to watch | bet365 Sports Live Streaming, LPL Twitch Youtube channel |
| Odds | Invictus Gaming 7/2, JD Gaming 1/6 |
Invictus Gaming have been among the standout teams in the early stages of this year's LPL Spring, but they face their biggest challenge yet when they take on JD Gaming on Saturday.
JD Gaming stormed to victory at the LPL Summer late last year and were the only team from outside of South Korea to reach the semi-finals of the League of Legends World Championship 2022.
Simply put, they are juggernauts on the League of Legends circuit and they strengthened their roster during the offseason with the additions of bot laner Park "Ruler" Jae-hyuk and mid laner Zhuo "knight" Ding.
However, JD Gaming have not taken the LPL Spring by the scruff of its neck as many expected, having already suffered two defeats in their first six matches - against Weibo Gaming last week and Edward Gaming this week.
That has to be cause for concern for JD Gaming fans and Invictus Gaming, who have defied expectations with a 5-2 record this season, should sniff blood going into this match.
Invictus are a playoff side but will be out to prove they can go better than that and a wager on over 2.5 maps could be the way to go at 11/8.
Rare Atom could shock Bilibili Gaming
| What | Rare Atom vs Bilibili Gaming |
| Where | China |
| When | 09.00, Saturday 18th February |
| How to watch | bet365 Sports Live Streaming, LPL Twitch Youtube channel |
| Odds | Rare Atom 2/1, Bilibili Gaming 4/11 |
Having prepared for the LPL Spring 2023 with victory in the offseason Demacia Cup, Bilibili Gaming made a decent start to the first split of the campaign, winning two of their first three matches.
That was followed by a disappointing fourth week which featured defeats to Team WE and Edward Gaming, but they bounced back again at the start of week five with a 2-1 win over strugglers Anyone's Legend.
It is not exactly a big deal to beat Anyone's Legend in the LPL Spring given they are rooted to the foot of the standings with a 0-7 record, but that should have got Bilibili Gaming's confidence back on track and they are fancied at 4/11 to beat Rare Atom.
But Rare Atom are no pushovers, having won four of their first six matches and at the prices, they could be worth chancing as 2/1 outsiders.
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Weibo Gaming unlikely to have things all their own way
| What | Ultra Prime vs Weibo Gaming |
| Where | China |
| When | 11.00, Saturday 18th February |
| How to watch | bet365 Sports Live Streaming, LPL Twitch Youtube channel |
| Odds | Ultra Prime 6/1, Weibo Gaming 1/12 |
The most one-sided affair of the day in the LPL Spring looks to be Ultra Prime versus Weibo Gaming.
With four defeats from their first six matches in the split, Ultra Prime are languishing in the lower echelons of the LPL Spring.
As for Weibo Gaming, they have won three of their five matches but enjoyed a particularly strong week four in which they defeated both FunPlus Phoenix and JD Gaming.
However, they slipped to defeat to ThunderTalk Gaming last time out and this may not be as one-sided as the prices suggest.
Weibo Gaming have conceded maps in four of the five matches they have played in the LPL Spring this season and, with that in mind, punters should consider a bet on over 2.5 maps in this one at a juicy price of 2/1.
