Top Esports vs. Suning: LPL Spring Split betting analysis

The 2021 LPL Spring Split will kick off with a banger of a match between defending LPL champions Top Esports and Worlds 2020 finalists Suning. 

Two of the best Chinese teams from 2020 will kick off the 2021 competitive LoL season in the LPL. Top Esports and Suning already have a lot of history together, facing off in the 2020 World Championship semifinals just a few months ago. Suning won that match in 3-1 fashion, but since then Top Esports has been in better form.

Fans saw both teams in action very recently at the 2020 Demacia Cup. Because of previous results in 2020, the two star-studded teams were directly qualified for the quarterfinals. Only Top Esports made it further though, as Suning choked against Vici Gaming. 

After losing support Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh in the offseason to North America’s Team SoloMid, Suning is clearly looking a lot weaker. Even though the team has only played a single best-of-five in the Demacia Cup, it was enough to make fans and experts aware that the roster changes had huge consequences. Suning will likely have to redefine themselves and find a new player to lead the team on Summoner’s Rift. SwordArt was important in this regard, with a lot of experience and leadership. 

Top Esports, on the other hand, performed to the expected level at Demacia Cup 2020 and redeemed itself after being knocked out earlier than expected at Worlds. With both mid laner Zhuo “knight” Ding and jungler Hung “Karsa” Hao-Hsuan in top shape, the team cruised its way through the Demacia Cup. Top Esports even won the final in 3-0 fashion, showing the world that they are here to compete in 2021. 

Considering recent performance, there is no doubt that Top Esports will be the heavy favorites to start off the season with a win. Suning simply looked lost at the Demacia Cup and a few weeks may not be enough time to fix the problems. Suning will have to start out the season with lowered expectations and hopefully bounce back. 

Top Esports will likely come out swinging with the same roster seen in 2020. The team seems like the biggest favorite going into the 2021 LPL Spring Split and has a great chance at defending the LPL title. 

If Suning were to make an upset, it would need to ave jungler Lê “SofM” Duy and top laner Chen “Bin” Ze-bin pop off. The two can definitely match their opposition in raw skill, but they will need to pull out a big carry performance. If these two players don’t manage to snowball a lead, it will be very hard for Suning to do anything when the late-game team fights kick in. 

Top Esports heavy favorites to start 2021 with a win

Despite these teams performing at a top-level by the end of 2020, Top Esports is heading into the match as clear favorites. The last time these two teams met was at the 2020 World Championship semifinals, where Suning took the win. For this match, the bookmakers agree that Top Esports will take it fairly easily. 

The absence of SwordArt clearly means a lot for Suning and the odds show it. A win for Top Esports only gives odds 1.10 while a Suning win is going for 5.85. The line is very clear and Suning will have to prove that they can play without SwordArt to lead them. 

The match between Top Esports and Suning starts on January 9.