Kazakhstan vs Slovakia Prediction, Tips & Odds – May 20, 2022 19:20 CET
Being one of the main outsiders of the tournament, Kazakhstan is hoping to avoid relegation and the bottom of their group. So far things haven´t been going right but they will get another chance to win their first point(s) against Slovakia, whose results also haven´t been satisfactory.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan used to bring much stronger teams to tournaments like this one. Glory days of their dynamic trio and legendary KHL troika Boyd–Bochenski–Dawes are long gone as they are now relying on new naturalized players and a standard domestic core from the KHL team Barys Astana.
They are known for offering citizenship to the best foreign players from that same team and this time they chose Swedish defender Viktor Svedberg along with Canadians Jesse Blacker and Curtis Valk. These names highlight otherwise a pretty limited team that will most likely once again remain without points after today´s game. To survive in the top division and avoid the bottom of the group they will need at least one win. France was their best chance so far to win points but they failed and will have to rely on the final round and the clash against Italy.
In a tense affair @Hockey_FRA trailed Kazakhstan for more than half the game, but fought back to earn a 2-1 win.💪
Here are the highlights ⤵️#FRAKAZ #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/oFvafIw8JE
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 15, 2022
Slovakia
With the discrepancy between their results and the quality of their players, Slovakia is a sleeping giant that can awaken at any moment. After a solid start and a 4:2 win over France, they suffered three straight defeats and find themselves in a very tough position but can still make the quarter-finals.
After their initial win, first worrying sign was the 2:1 loss to Germany in the second round. Against Canada, not a lot of teams can hope to win points so the 5:1 loss they suffered can be excused, but they definitely should have done much better in their last game against Switzerland losing 5:3. Slovakia still has one more roster spot open for an NHL player as they already used one so far and called up Martin Fehervary from the Washington Capitals. He had his debut in the last round and will be a great asset to their struggling defense which conceded 10 goals in the last two games.
Switzerland defeated Slovakia tonight by a 5-3 score in another wild and thrilling ride at the Helsinki Ice Hall tonight.🇨🇭✌️ @SwissIceHockey
Check out the highlights ⤵️#SUISVK #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/3yxJdVypxw
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 18, 2022
Kazakhstan vs Slovakia Prediction
Slovakia has a great chance to rebound today with a strong win. With their vulnerable defense they could give away a goal or two, but overall should be fine because the difference in class is substantial. However, there is simply no value in betting on the Slovaks as the Total Over option seems the most attractive. Slovakia should provide most of the goals but Kazakhstan´s imports have the quality to score against any team in the tournament.
Prediction: Asian Total – Total Over 5.25
Odds: 1.85
Bookmaker: 22Bet
Date and time: 20.05.2022 19:20 CET
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