What to expect from FURIA vs Movistar Riders

After a disappointing 2-0 loss to MOUZ, FURIA will be looking to bounce back in their matchup against Spanish side Movistar Riders. A loss for FURIA here would ship the Brazilians off to the Last Chance Stage, where they would face the loser of the BIG/SAW matchup. Hungry for a deep run after a poor showing in Katowice, FURIA will need to clean up their act today if they want to reach playoffs.

FURIA's form

An early win over Imperial helped bolster confidence in FURIA's form after a rough performance in IEM Katowice, but the squad showed very little of promise in their following game against MOUZ. While Rafael "saffee" Costa displayed the form that he had previously shown while on paiN, he was nowhere to be found in the squad's match against MOUZ, leaving Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato out to dry. Meanwhile, Yuri "yuurih" Santos' form has fallen off a cliff since posting a 1.12 average rating at IEM Katowice, as he averages a 0.87 rating so far.

• KSCERATO needs help: 1.24 rating while the next best player (saffee) is 1.07

• yuurih needs to step it up, with a 0.87 rating after FURIA's two games

• arT and drop similarly have fared poorly, with 0.94 and 0.86 ratings respectively

• Only one BO3 win for the squad in 2023 so far (25% win rate)

Movistar Riders' form

Heading into Group B of ESL Pro League Season 17, Movistar Riders were undoubtedly one of the squads with the lowest expectations surrounding them, as the only other competitor the Spaniards beat out in rankings is Imperial. An opening loss to Heroic, while certainly expected, did not inspire much confidence, as Movistar Riders only accrued eleven rounds total across the two maps played. A 2-0 win over Complexity has definitely bolstered the Spanish side's confidence, but the team is still very much in danger of being sent to the Last Chance Stage if they can't replicate that showing.

• mopoz leads the pack with a 1.23 average rating

• alex, dav1g, and sausol have all struggled so far, with 0.93, 0.87, and 0.84 ratings, respectively

• The Riders have a flexible map pool, having played all seven maps at least once in the past three months

• Although they can play all seven maps, they can't play them all particularly well, with their highest win rates being 50% on Vertigo (2 maps) and 40% on Mirage (5 maps)

Likely Vetoes

The veto for this series is a highly difficult one to predict, considering FURIA's limited sample size and Movistar Riders' poor performances across the past few months. FURIA's choices are the most apparent, with an Overpass ban and Mirage pick being a staple for them in 2023 so far.

Movistar Riders have a lot more options available to them, but an Ancient pick seems like a reasonable move considering that the Riders are comfortable on the map and FURIA have yet to secure a win, with a Vertigo ban also not being an unreasonable possibility. With these picks, an Inferno decider seems likely, although there is certainly a chance that Anubis could slip through as the third map.

• FURIA ban Overpass; Perma-ban since Anubis was added

• Movistar Riders ban Vertigo; Most common ban and least-played map

• FURIA pick Mirage; Their go-to pick in 2023 so far, 60% win rate

• Movistar Riders pick Ancient; A map that FURIA has struggled with recently

• Decider Inferno; Commonly played by both squads

Bookie favorites

Despite FURIA's lackluster recent showings, the Brazilian side still finds themselves as the favorite for this BO3. Odds for FURIA are 1.25 to Movistar Riders' 3.76, showing that there is still some confidence to be had in FURIA even despite their shortcomings.