FC Schalke 04 vs Fnatic

For our last match of the day we have an extremely interesting clash between FC Schalke 04 and the former kings of Europe - Fnatic.

Both teams are currently in a somewhat similar position in regards to the standings. Fnatic is tied for second place along with G2 eSports however they looked vulnerable and exploitable every single time they stepped foot on the Summoner's Rift. When they won, they did so by the razor's edge, but when they lost they looked somewhat horrible. Luckily for all Fnatic fans, they were able to string three victories in a row and are currently looking pretty solid.

They have one of the best early games in the league (but not that much better than Schalke) and have overall been really strong from the very get go. It is the mid and late game that Fnatic suffers - a bad call or a sloppy teamfight that allows their opposition to capitalize. Fortunately they fixed a lot of their problems from weeks 1 and 2, but it's still unknown how well they will do against the absolute best teams.

They're still a force to be reckoned however they're a lot like a diamond in the rough. With time they should be able to get to their former heights, but at the moment they're vulnerable much like every other EU LCS team.

As for Schalke, it's been a lot of "hot and cold". They've shown some fantastic things but they also failed to capitalize, to fully translate their leads into wins. They've all been incredible on an individual level, but they just can't seem to win against the top tier teams even though they almost always get the early lead. The current meta favors late game teamfighting and late game team comps, so the leads Schalke gains early on don't really mean a lot if they don't have scaling in their favor.

That, in addition to the fact that Upset made multiple errors in positioning last week meant that they had yet another 1-1 week.

Fortunately, Schalke has a lot going for them. Nukeduck is currently one of the best midlaners in the region - first in KDA - 6.9, lowest death share at 13.7% and some of the best laning stats in the region. He's having a renaissance and paired along with one of the best toplaners in Vizicsacsi, Schalke has the tools to compete at the highest level. The biggest problem they had was Pridestalker's champion pool, however since last week they fully transformed him into a meta slave as he played a couple of phenomenal, highly impactful Sejuani games. The statistics paint the full picture as well - highest KDA at 7.6, lowest death share at 12.3%, highest first blood rate at 63% and some mind-boggling Gold and Experience difference numbers.

We're going with Schalke 04 here. They have a proactive early game and they've shown great resiliency when they're behind as well. They also have laners that can compete with Fnatic on an individual level which is a big factor as well.

Do have in mind that this is far from a safe bet and could by all means go either way, but the odds are high and Schalke have the chance to upset, so we're going with the underdogs here.