Weibo Gaming, presently at the top of the LPL standings, will face pre-split favorites Royal Never Give Up in a blockbuster fixture on Wednesday evening in China’s Pro League. Here is a breakdown of the match along with an analysis of the factors that could determine the outcome.

WBG vs RNG – Team Breakdowns

Weibo Gaming have been one of the stories of the LPL so far. In fact, they have displayed a ruthlessness that was not expected in their matches so far. They have won nine of their first 10 matches to move to the top of the LPL standings. Even though Victory Five also have an identical record, Weibo are at the top on account of a better map record, which includes 19 map wins out of 26.

Royal Never Give Up have not quite hit their best rhythm yet. They have won 7 of 10 matches, which is an excellent record as a standalone metric, but RNG are still sixth in the LPL standings, which is surprising for their level of efficiency.

The production for RNG has been led by their star bot laner in Gala, who has managed returns of 4.04 kills, 1.6 deaths and 4.96 assists per map at a KDA of 5.63 along with a creep score of 339.72. These are excellent returns considering the ease with which a bot laner can rack up deaths in a competitive, quick-paced league like the LPL.

Over in the middle lane, RNG have received terrific production from Xiaohu, who has managed 3.8 kills, 1.76 deaths and 5.6 assists per map at a KDA of 5.34 and a creep score of 311.16. These two majorly have been responsible for RNG’s excellence this season, but they will come up against a solid mid and bot laner pairing in this matchup.

Weibo Gaming have received even better returns in the mid and bot lane from Angel and Huanfeng respectively. Angel has managed 3.69 kills, 1.12 deaths and 5.35 assists at a KDA of 8.1. Huanfeng, on the other hand, has returned 4.35 kills, 1.31 deaths and 4.23 assists at a KDA of 6.56. This match will be a fight between two of the best mid and bot laner pairs in the LPL, at least based on the form and evidence from this LPL season.

Weibo Gaming vs Royal Never Give Up – Odds Lines & Picks

From a betting standpoint, I really like the value of RNG. They are the underdogs, which is a bit unfair despite Weibo’s incredible season so far. Royal Never Give Up are unlikely to be pushovers even for a resurgent Weibo Gaming unit.

As a result of this form and fluency, Weibo Gaming start as favorites in this match. They have odds of x1.60 on Betway to win in the moneyline market. Fair? At face value, sure. But in terms of value, there is plenty to like about odds of x2.20 for a team as solid as RNG.

Gala has enough experience in the mid and late game, which will be imperative to pick up the final few elemental dragons required to buff his champion to make him hard to get past in team fights. Gala and Xiaohu are expected to be too hard to get past and the additional payout for the higher odds make RNG the team to back.