Paper Rex and Team Liquid will clash on Wednesday, September 7, in the Group A decider match at VALORANT Champions 2022, where the two squads will duke it out for a spot in the playoffs.
It will mark the first meeting between the two Valorant esports teams and one of the most exciting matches of the group stage.
Teams’ Previous Scoreboard
Paper Rex Performance
Paper Rex enter this bout following a devastating 0-2 defeat against Leviatan, who bested the Singaporean squad 2-0 in the second round of the group stage at VALORANT Champions 2022. It was a fairly close affair, but it was evident that Paper Rex were the worse team on the day.
Before that defeat, Paper Rex bested EDward Gaming (2-1) with a somewhat shaky performance on Icebox (5-13), so it’s clear that the last Masters’ finalists might not be in the best shape ahead of this bout.
Liquid Performance
Like Paper Rex, Team Liquid haven’t achieved the heights they were hoping for in Turkey. Although the Valorant esports betting odds suggested that Team Liquid aren’t one of the top dogs to win the tournament, their performance in the group stage left a lot to be desired.
In the opening round of the group stage, they lost against Leviatan (0-2) but looked much better on Sunday when Liquid defeated EDward Gaming 2-0.
Having lost and won against the same pair of teams, Paper Rex and Team Liquid will not go at each other, looking to score a crucial win, leading them to the playoff stage.
And even though Valorant betting odds imply Paper Rex have a better chance of winning, the teams’ past results lead us to believe that we might be in for a very close affair.
Paper Rex vs. Team Liquid Betting Analysis
Team Liquid and Paper Rex have never met before, so we have no past H2H results to look at while making our Valorant esports betting picks. Regardless, we have seen enough from the teams to have a solid idea of how this game will play out.
Paper Rex Winning Chance to Study
According to Valorant odds, Paper Rex have about a 60% chance of winning this bout, but that figure is definitely based more on the teams’ past results this season rather than their showings at VALORANT Champions 2022.
Based on what we’ve seen from Liquid and Paper Rex over the last week, there is very little to suggest that one team deserves to be priced as the favorite over the other.
So while the bookmakers seem to have a good idea of how this match will end, we expected the Valorant betting odds to be much closer than how they are.
Paper Rex
Paper Rex have enjoyed an excellent season in 2022 and have somehow managed to perform even better than they had in 2021.
Rex kicked off the year with back-to-back titles at VCT 2022: Malaysia & Singapore Stage 1 Challengers and VCT 2022: APAC Stage 1 Challengers, qualifying for Masters Reykjavik, where they performed well enough to finish in fourth place.
Outstanding Performance in Iceland
Since their outstanding performance in Iceland, Paper Rex added two more titles at VCT 2022: Malaysia & Singapore Stage 2 Challengers and VCT 2022: APAC Stage 2 Challengers, which they won dominantly, proving that they’re undeniably the best team from the region.
But the best was yet to come. At Masters Copenhagen, Paper Rex shifted into a higher gear and made it all the way to the finals from the upper bracket, while beating Guild Esports, Fnatic, and OpTic Gaming.
But, unfortunately, they couldn’t close out the deal, as they had to admit defeat to FunPlus Phoenix (2-3) in an extremely closely-contested affair.
Since their run in Copenhagen Paper Rex haven’t played a single official match until VALORANT Champions 2022, where they lost against Leviatan but edged past Edward Gaming.
Team Liquid
Team Liquid haven’t come close to achieving as much as Paper Rex this season, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t looked good.
Liquid ended the 2021 season with a very solid performance at VALORANT Champions 2021, where they reached the semi-finals only to lose to the eventual champions Acend (0-2).
2022 Season
The North American squad carried over some of the momenta into the 2022 season and did well in the VCT 2022: EMEA Stage 1 Challengers, finishing fourth following a 0-2 loss to G2.
But things turned sour since then, as Liquid could only manage a seventh-eight place finish in Iceland and finished VCT 2022: EMEA Stage 2 Challengers in fifth-sixth place.
Fortunately, Liquid found some momentum in the Last Chance Qualifiers, which they won without any major problems, securing a spot in the season-culminating event with the skin of their teeth.
Valorant News
There are no updates about the team ahead of this bout. However, due to COVID-19 infections that have been plaguing VALORANT Champions 2022, it’s wise to follow the teams’ social media for any last-minute updates.
Paper Rex vs. Team Liquid Betting Preview
According to the latest Valorant betting odds, Paper Rex should win this bout 60% of the time, which might seem fair on paper, but it seems like the Singaporean squad are a bit overrated.
They deserve some respect for their incredible performance in Copenhagen, but we shouldn’t put too much weight on past results.
Despite proving themselves as the better team in 2022, Paper Rex haven’t looked much better than Team Liquid this tournament, and you could even argue that Liquid have shown more.
Rex’s Victory
Rex’s narrow victory against EDward Gaming is concerning, and even in their loss to Leviatan, Paper Rex looked worse than Liquid.
Paper Rex vs. Team Liquid Betting Prediction
At even odds, we would gladly side with Paper Rex, who have proven earlier this year that they can deliver in clutch moments, but at the offered Valorant betting odds, it makes far more sense to side with Team Liquid.
There is no obvious reason to have Liquid priced as high as +110, knowing that they have just as much talent on the roster as Paper Rex, on top of the fact that they have been playing better throughout the group stage.
Valorant Pick: Over 2.5 maps
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