The winner match of group B will take place between NAVI and Liquid. Both teams were able to defeat their opponents easily. While NAVI is the favorite to win the group, Liquid surprised against Heroic.

Table of Content

The games of the IEM Global Challenge will be played online and in bo3 format. While the group stage was played in double elimination, the upcoming playoffs will be played as single elimination. The final will be a bo5 duel without map advantage.

Date and provider

The match between NAVI and Liquid will take place live at 7.30 p.m.(CET) on 17.12.2020. In the evening match of the third day, the two teams will play for direct promotion to the playoffs. In group A, BIG already secured the first place in the playoffs. ESL will provide streams in English at the Global Challenge.

Natus Vincere - Latest performance & results

NAVI, headed by star player s1mple, managed to convince in the past weeks. Two close losses in duels with Astralis and Vitality destroyed the team's top-3 finish at the BLAST Fall Finals.

While individually still s1mple performs exceptionally, the team as a whole shows better performances and could convince with victories against FURIA on the first group match day, as well as at the BLAST. The last game between the two top teams was several months ago due to the online phase.

Both NAVI and Liquid were top teams in their regions CIS and NA, but had difficulties returning to Europe. Especially Liquid showed one of the first good performances since their return to Europe in the duel with Heroic. Between NAVI and Liquid, the odds are nevertheless clearly in favor of the Russian team based on the last few weeks.

Liquid - Latest performance & results

Liquid had a tough couple of weeks with three losses in a row. The team did not qualify for the BLAST Fall Finals and therefore had about two weeks to prepare for the final tournament of the year.

A clear victory on Inferno, as well as a close win on Nuke in the duel with the Danish top team secured a great start to the IEM Global Challenge. This performance should take some of the pressure off the team's shoulders.

In the duel with NAVI, however, Liquid will have a very difficult time. Even though Stewie2K had a sensational day in the opening round, s1mple is currently in great shape. Between NAVI and Liquid, a bet on the underdog Liquid is tempting due to the high odds.

Natus Vincere vs. Liquid - Map-Veto prediction

While NAVI decided to ban Vertigo as a map, Liquid bans Train. Both teams had recently performed well on Dust2 and also feel comfortable on Overpass. As picks between NAVI and Liquid, the tip regarding maps is Inferno and Nuke. Given the win rates on the respective maps, Liquid feels relatively comfortable on practically all possible maps and a surprise pick on Overpass is also conceivable. As a decider, Dust2 would be obvious.

Natus Vincere vs. Liquid - Prediction

The recent results favor NAVI, but Liquid may well take the momentum from the first duel and surprise NAVI tomorrow with a much improved map pool. Due to the extremely high odds, we dare an underdog pick on the North American team Liquid.

Winner bet: Liquid
EsportFire Tip: Liquid 2:1

Information is provided without guarantee! All forecasts are based on the personal opinion of the author!

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