Czech Republic vs. Austria Prediction, Tips & Odds – May 17, 2022 15:20 CET
After more than an eventful Monday, today we are looking at a quiet day at the 2022 IIHF World Championship. The game that caught our attention is the first one on the schedule – an interesting clash between Austria and the Czech Republic in Tampere. All the favorites should be able to cruise to convincing victories today but the Czechs will have a bit tougher task and will have to be careful.
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Czech Republic
Czech Republic took this tournament seriously putting together a very strong team packed with NHL talent and experience. NHL stars such as Tomaš Hertl, Jakub Vrana, and David Krejči should do most of the scoring but so far it’s the European players who have been making the difference.
Great Britain was not a worthy opponent in the opener falling 5:1 but the Swedes were more than a match for the Czechs. In an action-packed game they were simply left behind by a very potent Swedish offense but still managed to score three goals and suffered a respectable 5:3 loss.
After a shaky start, the Czech Republic will be looking to solidify their playoff position and prevent a major upset by the Austrians. With the poor start Latvia has had, Austria is hoping to somehow sneak into the playoff zone and the top 4. After stunning the United States in the last round and snatching a point from them they can´t be underestimated but pulling off two upsets inside just a couple of days should be too demanding for them.
Sweden is sitting with a perfect 2-0 record after defeating Czechia 5-3 in Nokia Arena on Sunday.
Check out the game highlights ⬇️#CZESWE #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/maxSi0gMnu
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 15, 2022
Austria
What makes the draw against the US even more interesting is the fact that Austria is playing without NHL players. They were on the verge of one of the biggest upsets ever in the history of international hockey with a 2:0 lead in the middle of the game. However, they failed to hold off the Americans losing 3:2 after overtime but they won a massive point that could prove extremely important in the end.
Led by their standard core of players from their domestic league along with a couple of additions from some other European leagues, not a lot was expected from the Austrians. It seems classifying them as outsiders only helped them as a team as Sweden was awaited with stiff resistance in the opener. Austria played very well and suffered a bearable 3:1 loss but their hard work more than paid off against the US in the following round.
Extra time was required for @usahockey to secure the win in today’s game! 🇺🇸 #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/hboGJBW9Ih
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 16, 2022
Czech Republic vs. Austria Prediction
Regardless of Austria pulling off the biggest surprise of the tournament and one of the biggest surprises in this competition in recent years, Czech Republic is a member of the so-called “Big Six” and realistically a much better team.
Despite playing without any NHL players, the Austrians have clearly narrowed the gap between them and other top teams with the development of local talent. After their good performances, one would expect them to keep up with the Czechs today. However, we think we are in for a different scenario today as this will be Austria´s third clash inside just three days with another medal contender. Fatigue could be an issue so this time we feel the overall gulf in class will finally be felt but decided to back the Total Under option which has the most value for betting.
Date and time: 17.05.2022 15:20 CET
Prediction: Total Under 7.5
Odds: 1.60
Bookmaker: 22Bet
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