Movistar Riders and Macko Esports will meet on Thursday, August 31, in the semifinals of EMEA Masters 2023 Summer. According to the latest LoL esports betting odds, Movistar Riders are expected to win comfortably.
Movistar Riders had a rough start to the EMEA Masters 2023 Summer. They barely made it through the group stage due to their abysmal performances against NASR eSports Turkey, who beat them twice as $3.08 underdogs.
The shaky performances during the group stage put a huge question mark above Movistar Riders. However, the Spanish squad crushed BK ROGH Esports 3-0 on Monday as $2.38 outsiders, with strong individual performances of jungler Isma?l “Isma” Boualem and mid laner Bart?omiej “Fresskowy” Przewo?nik, who ended the series with a 13.3 KDA.
Unlike Movistar Riders, Macko Esports proved very early that they’re the real deal and won Group C with a perfect 6-0 record, with wins against Anorthosis Famagusta Esports, Nativz, and the three-time EMEA Masters champions, Karmine Corp.
Even in the first round of the knockout stage, Macko Esports didn’t disappoint and swept GTZ Esports (3-0) to keep their perfect record alive. However, despite Macko’s remarkable run, they’re priced as heavy underdogs for this match.
Considering what the two teams have shown so far, the offered betting odds don’t make much sense, and they likely have to do with the public’s perception of Macko Esports as a weak team. Macko entered EMEA Masters 2023 Summer as $41.00 underdogs on the outright betting markets, and that tag seems to have stuck despite their form.
Macko have some of the best performance stats at the tournament, including +1987 gold differential at 15 minutes (1st), 87% Baron control (1st), 72.2% Herald control (2nd), and 72.4% Dragon control (2nd). Movistar Riders aren’t far behind, but the stats and the eye test alike suggest this is a 50-50 match at best, so how can you not back the outsiders?
?The LoL betting odds offered on this Iberian Cup quarter-final seem to be based on each region’s perceived strength; Macko Esports are the strongest squad from Italy, while MAD Lions Madrid are hardly more than a top-four team from Spain. Still, you can’t deny that MAD Lions have some solid pieces, namely ADC Victor “Flakked” Lirola, who is due to get his chance in the League of Legends European Championship (LEC).
The problem with MAD Lions is that while Flakked is an excellent player, he is also the team’s main win condition, meaning that shutting him down usually results in MAD Lions crumbling. Macko’s ADC Riccardo “Rharesh” Tata will have a challenging task trying to match Flakked in-lane, but realistically, he doesn’t need to win the lane to help Macko win.
The current meta is hardly focused on the bottom lane, but instead on a strong mid-jungle synergy and solid top side. And those are areas where Macko should be able to match with MAD Lions with Stass “StenBosse” Skopin in the top lane and Casper “Cboi” Bo Simonsen in the jungle.
MAD Lions Madrid should be favoured, but they shouldn’t be priced at $1.53. It’s also worth noting that Macko average a higher Early Game Rating (EGR) than MAD Lions (58.0 – 55.9) and are more efficient in the late game with a 3.7 Mid-Late Game Rating (MLR) to MAD Lions’ -4.6 MLR.
It could be a close one, but the odds on Macko Esports are too good to pass on.