Liquid vs. MAD Lions, Preview & Prediction - Free 11/26 CS:GO

Only a winner of this Best of 3 encounter between Liquid and MAD Lions can advance to the quarter-finals of the BLAST Premier Fall 2020 Showdown when they meet on Thursday. Liquid is a slight favorite and if they beat MAD Lions, they will face a better side of the clash between FaZe and MIBR in the next round.

Liquid Team Stats and Latest Results

Liquid played well at the ESL Pro League Season 12 North America in late September but after losing to Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves, they had to settle with 4th place and $27,500. They weren’t that successful at the IEM New York 2020 North America, where they finished in 5th position with $3,000 and 1875 RMR Points in pocket. Following wins over Rugratz and Chaos, Liquid made it to the semi-finals of the IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020 North America, but Triumph beat them and Liquid settled with $6,000. Liquid won 12 of the previous 18 matches.

When it comes to the maps in the last three months, Liquid was invincible on Overpass (played six times) and decent on Dust2 (71.4% win rate) and Mirage (66.7%), while they were below average only on Vertigo (42.9%). Liquid assembled its current lineup in August this year and appeared on 53 maps with a record of 34 wins and 19 losses. The lineup is made of NAF (1.17 rating), EliGE (1.23), Stewie2K (1.00), Twistzz (1.07), and Grim (1.10).

MAD Lions Team Stats and Latest Results

MAD Lions qualified for this tournament through the Elisa Invitational 2, where they defeated AGF, Apeks, and HAVU. They lost the Grand final of the Betway Nine to Five 5 to Wisla Krakow despite winning the opening map and earned $15,000 for second place, after which they beat Dignitas and fnatic at the Flashpoint 2 and secured the playoffs. The Danish side will face the red-hot Virtus.pro in the opening round of the playoffs at that tournament. MAD Lions won eight of the last 12 games.

In the previous three months, MAD Lions displayed strong performances on Vertigo (83.3%) and played well on Nuke (60.0%) and Train (57.1%), while they failed to get a victory on Dust2 (played three times). Since October 2020, MAD Lions is playing with the current lineup and appeared on 28 maps with a record of 16 wins and 12 losses. The team members are HooXi (0.98), acoR (1.23), refresh (1.19), sjuush (1.09), and roeJ (1.09).

Liquid vs. MAD Lions H2H Record

These rivals have never met before.

Liquid vs. MAD Lions Betting Preview

One of the tightest of all games in the opening round of the playoffs, will definitely provide us a lot of excitement and action from both teams. If I had to choose a winner, my pick would be Liquid as I think they are a slightly better side. However, I expect to see a close matchup and that’s why I am not going to bet on the winner. Four of MAD Lions’ last seven matches produced a maximum of three maps. I am going with Over 2.5 maps in this one.

The Pick: Over 2.5 Maps (-105 @GG.BET)