Ice Hockey World Championship Group Stage, Tuesday, 21.05.2024
At this Ice Hockey World Cup 2024, we get one last group game with knockout character before the actual quarter-finals. And in my opinion, it’s worth putting your trust in a “Nati” that is getting stronger from game to game.
In my Finland-Switzerland betting tip, I think they can pull off the really big coup: a win over the Finns, who may regret not having nominated significantly more seasoned NHL pros, as many other participants have done, for example.
Does the fact that the Finns didn’t include significantly more NHL stars compared to Sweden perhaps come back to haunt them?
In any case, the neighboring country brought along well over a dozen professionals from North America and has dominated the parallel group since Matchday 1.
“Suomi”, on the other hand, has nominated just four NHL superstars, including Mikael Granlund from the San Jose Sharks – and even if this line-up is certainly enough to at least reach the knockout phase, the battle for a medal could be tight.
After all, FIN caused the biggest surprise of the tournament in the preliminary round with their embarrassing 3:2 defeat against Austria, automatically helping the ÖEHV selection to stay in the group.
Finland have at best the possibility of reaching the quarter-finals in fourth place in their group, as the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Canada have all managed to collect around twice as many points.
Consequently, we seem to be facing an almost inevitable Scandinavian derby against Sweden in just a few days’ time, for which the Finns should already be preparing. Especially as fatigue should actually play a role!
Note: Suomi have had a whole day less time to recover than Switzerland before this day, and we’ve already seen what that can lead to several times at this tournament
In contrast to Suomi, Switzerland have made a much better start to this World Cup and may be on course for a big win in the Czech Republic in 2024.
In any case, they have already beaten the hosts, even if the other victories over Norway (5:2), the nail-biting win over Austria (6:5) and the one over Denmark (8:0) are no automatic guarantee of a successful knockout phase.
However, the Ice Comrades give me the impression that they have a perfect mix of young and old. Roman Josi, with 10 scoring points already, is a reliable scorer in the Swiss front line who could put the Finnish team under enormous pressure
It’s not easy to make a prediction here! The Finns have always been an unpleasant opponent for the national team. At the recent Czech Hockey Games, they lost 3-1 to a good part of the current Scandinavian line-up.
However, the two difference-makers Nico Hischier and the aforementioned Roman Josi, who are playing an outstanding 2024 Ice Hockey World Championship, were not with the Swiss on this occasion and will ensure a much more even game this time.
Yes, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the game even tipped in favour of the ice comrades
When using practical sports betting apps, there’s no real alternative to a Finland-Switzerland tip that sees the ice comrades ahead after 60 minutes.
After all, odds of around 3.00 are a sufficiently high incentive for me to believe that the Swiss will actually beat one of their personal opponents. In any case, the conditions are ideal:
Despite the large difference in points, both sides are characterized by a very strong defence. In fact, Switzerland (11) and Finland (10) have conceded the fewest goals in Group A after the Czech Republic (15).
And since the last two World Cup matches between the two nations in 2017 and 2018 both produced fewer than 5.5 goals, not much seems to have changed during this period in terms of both sides’ focus on excellent defensive work
Conclusion: The Swiss are poised for a deep push at this World Cup, while the Finns will almost certainly be finished in the quarterfinals against the overmatched Swedes.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, I highly doubt that Suomi, missing several top performers from the NHL, is actually the favorite in this affair.
The German bookmakers would have you believe that, but the performances so far and especially the recent results compared to those of the ice comrades speak a completely different language.
My tip: Under 5.5 goals
