Czech Republic vs. Latvia Prediction, Tips & Odds – May 19, 2022 19:20 CET
Czech Republic will look to heal its wounds against Latvia in the closing game of day 7 at the 2022 IIHF World Championship. After more than an unstable start, they have to be wary of today´s opponents who have NHL talent in their roster and have been a tough nut to crack for the favourites so far.
Czech Republic
To say the Czechs have had poor results so far would be an understatement. After an expected routine win over Great Britain in the opener(5:1), they had two horrible games and lost to Sweden and, most recently, Austria.
No one held the loss to Sweden against them, but the shocking defeat from the last round against Austria is extremely worrying. In one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far Czechs conceded the equalizer with a little over 30 seconds left in the regulation. They were visibly distraught after that goal losing the penalty shootout and consequently the game(1:2). Morale can´t be high after that loss but they do have the best scorer of the tournament in Roman Červenka and all the tools required to rebound this Thursday.
Austria claimed its first-ever victory over Czechia after a tense shootout success in Tampere.
Check out the game highlights ⬇️#CZEAUT #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/YyWRaI2EPa
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 17, 2022
Latvia
Czech Republic has to get going as soon as possible, but Latvia will be another tough task. Many have underestimated this Latvian team which had two very good showings against the US and the hosts Finland. They lost both of those games but resisted more than well and were rewarded for their effort with an important win in the previous round over Norway(3:2).
Besides having 2 NHL stars in their roster from the start in netminder Elvis Merzlikins and forward Rudolfs Balcers, recently they improved their squad with another NHLer, defender Kristjans Rubins. They still lack the class of the Czech Republic but with the current trends and their NHL quality, it would not surprise us at all if the Czechs suffered another embarrasing result.
Latvia withstood a late Norwegian surge to claim its first victory in Tampere.
Check out the game highlights ⬇️#LATNOR #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/g1DSNjpkQf
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 16, 2022
Czech Republic vs Latvia Prediction
It is difficult to estimate the current condition of the Czechs who just blundered a game they should have easily won. They should be more than motivated to make up for that loss and they also announced David Pastrnak will be joining the team from the Boston Bruins. It is unknown whether he will play today, but even if he does, hockey is a team sport and Latvia has left a far better impression so far deserving our trust in this game.
Prediction: Asian Handicap – Latvia (+2.5)
Odds: 1.80
Bookmaker: Bet365
Date and time: 19.05.2022 19:20 CET
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