Ice Hockey World Championship Group Stage, Sunday, 19.05.2024
We have already seen some great games at this Ice Hockey World Championship 2024. I’ve also had the odd successful opportunity to get the bookies to pay out a profit. Especially during the DEB team’s performances.
This time, however, I have marked a Slovakia-Latvia tip on my notepad, which I am also looking forward to with great confidence. Because of these two quarter-final contenders, the Eastern Europeans have so far been able to convince me much more of their skills
If the Latvians hadn’t won their first two group games against Poland and France in overtime at the start of the tournament by the skin of their teeth, you’d almost have to worry about their survival.
The 2023 bronze medal winners have had to put up with a lot on the ice in the Czech Republic so far – both defeats and hard hits.
The series of defeats against Germany (1:8) and Sweden (2:7) certainly jeopardizes a possible quarter-final appearance, while the Scandinavians in particular gave some of their players a hard time yesterday – especially Haralds Egle
It’s unbelievable how well the Swedes’ penalty-killing worked in yesterday’s 2:7 win. The Latvians were even given 5 minutes of overtime in a row by the referee without being able to capitalize on it.
And even if they were able to fight their way back into the game at times, the Balts usually let their guard down far too often in the decisive moments.
Want an example? At 2:2 in the second period, SWE scored three goals in the space of just 26 seconds – something that has never happened before at a World Championship!
The Latvians are frustrated about the turn the tournament has taken for them and to some extent I can totally understand the frustration.
In particular, the spacing and movement of the individual players against the puck are suboptimal for winning duels against teams loaded with NHL players in the long term.
What they got away with against France, Poland and Kazakhstan in terms of carelessness simply no longer works against the much stronger medal contenders – and at this point I clearly count the Slovaks in this group!
The Slovaks started this World Cup with a defeat against Germany, which I had anticipated and which was certainly not expected on the betting markets. After all, the Eastern Europeans enjoy support in the stands in neighboring Czech Republic.
What’s more, their squad is extremely strong and quite capable of making a deep tournament push. In the subsequent 5:4 victory over the USA in overtime, they showed their immense talent.
If the Slovaks don’t make any mistakes and win their remaining games – which is absolutely possible apart from the one against SWE – then they should even be able to finish ahead of Germany in third place at the end thanks to their success over the United States.
The Slovakia Latvia odds available on the various sports betting apps for this match invite you to place a bet on the crowd favorite.
I can’t simply ignore the 1.50 that are being traded in this context, given the fact that every one of the last six head-to-head meetings since 2021 has gone to “Team Slovakia” without the need for overtime.
Even last year, when the Latvians finished on the podium, they had to overcome a 2:1 defeat against this opponent in the preliminary round
I don’t want to settle for a safety-first bet again in this game, although my gut feeling suggests that I’m deliberately taking a risk.
In this case, I consider the difference in quality between the two teams to be big enough to try a moderate handicap bet.
For example, I have the offer Tip 1 with HC -1.5 in mind from the bookmaker giant Bet365.
Conclusion: While Latvia are now completely out of their stride, the Slovaks are really starting to turn up the heat.
The Eastern Europeans also enjoy the support in the stands and have the technical skills of several first-class NHL players in their ranks.
Furthermore, “Team Slovakia” works much better as a team, while their weak powerplay, penalties and occasional lapses will once again cost them dearly against a top team like this one.
My prediction: SLO wins with handicap -1.
