San Francisco Shock vs Los Angeles Gladiators Prediction: Struggle for Consistency Throughout the Season

• The San Francisco Shock face the Los Angeles Gladiators this Thursday. The Los Angeles Gladiators go into this match as firm favorites despite losing four of their five matches in this fixture. 
• San Francisco Shock are currently sitting in 10th place on the table. They’ve won just three of their eight matches this season.  
• Los Angeles Gladiators haven’t really set the world alight but have won five of their eight matches this season. They’re also one of the six teams in the Overwatch League with a positive map difference. 

LA Gladiators go into the tie as favorites, as they’re a few spots above the San Francisco Shock on the Overwatch League table. This piece will preview the West Play-Ins tie and provide a betting pick and tips for your consideration. 

San Francisco Shock vs Los Angeles Gladiators Pick

• Pick: San Francisco Shock to win.

San Francisco Shock vs Los Angeles Gladiators Predictions

This isn’t an easy game to pick: San Francisco Shock have a worse record than the Los Angeles Gladiators this season, but picking Los Angeles Gladiators offers little to no value on the market. The San Francisco Shock have lost just two more matches than the Los Angeles Gladiators, and there isn’t a significant difference in the number of maps won by both teams, either. 

More significantly, the San Francisco Shock have a 4-1 head-to-head record against the LA Gladiators. They’ve had the LA Gladiators’ number on far too many occasions for us to ignore; it leaves us wondering why the bookies have favored LA Gladiators so strongly for this match. 

There isn’t a big difference in recent form either. LA Gladiators have won six of their last 10 matches – and lost their last two, whereas San Francisco Shock have won five of their last 10 matches. The LA Gladiators have been the better this season, but San Francisco Shock’s superior head-to-record evens the scales a bit. Ultimately, we don’t think there’s a great risk in picking San Francisco Shock; they’re good value for this match, and the LA Gladiators don’t warrant the favoritism. 

This is a Fantastic Opportunity for San Francisco Shock

The San Francisco Shock haven’t had a great season, but this is a great opportunity to change their fortunes for the season. Despite winning just three matches all season, there isn’t a massive gap in their record compared to LA Gladiators’ for the season. They’re also going into this match as the underdogs, which will take some pressure off them. 

Their form heading into this match has been average at best: five wins in the last 10; however, this isn’t that different from their opponents’ recent form. They have little reason to fear the LA Gladiators, as they have a far better head-to-head record. Of course, many of these games are from a while back, but they’ll have a psychological advantage over LA Gladiators.

They’ll need their key offensive member, Proper, to come good in this tie. He has clocked a lot of minutes this season, with 1929 eliminations, 517 deaths, and dealt 845,879 damage this season. Other than Proper, the healing duo of Finn and Vindaim have also been a reliable pair of hands. 

One of their issues this season has been in the tank department: they haven’t settled on Max and Junbin for that role. Junbin has clocked more minutes this season, so he’ll most likely get the nod for this game, but the chopping and changing has left them a bit incohesive all season. This won’t be an easy match by any means, but the San Francisco Shock have more than enough quality to match the LA Gladiators and get their season back on track.

Los Angeles Gladiators Will Not Take Their Opponents Lightly   

The Los Angeles Gladiators have had a positive season so far, but it could all unravel against the San Francisco Shock this week. Despite winning two matches and four more maps than their upcoming opponents, they’ll be quite anxious heading into this tie due to their poor record against them.  

They also head into this match in poor form, winning two of their last five matches and losing their last two. They couldn’t have asked for a worse time to face a team they’ve had problems with. Despite the poor form and the head-to-record, the bookies have them winning this tie, and it’s not without good reason. 

They’ve been far more consistent than their upcoming opponents this season and can at least claim to have a positive map difference: one of six teams in the league that can claim this. One of the reasons for their relative success this season is their packed roster. They’ve got more players to choose from, making them unpredictable. 

Dante (tank), Lastro (healer), and Kevster (offense) have clocked a lot of minutes, but so have the four other members of their roster. This mix and match of players has given them a lot of tactical flexibility throughout the season. However, they’ve lacked some tactical cohesion without a reliable starting line-up, which is always the compromise that this approach carries. 

It’ll be interesting to see if their tactical variety will help them find an edge against the San Francisco Shock or leave them confused about the best approach for the tie.

How to Watch San Francisco Shock vs Los Angeles Gladiators

• Teams: San Francisco Shock vs Los Angeles Gladiators
• Location: Anaheim Convention Center Anaheim, California
• Time: July 13, 2023 
• How to watch: Twitch, MLG.com, the MLG app (on iOS and Android), and OverwatchLeague.com. You can also watch games on the Overwatch League app on iOS and Android devices