Sweden vs Slovakia. Will the Swedes be able to finish the group stage in first place?

Games in Group B will end with a match between the national teams of Sweden and Slovakia. The meeting will take place on May 21 in Ostrava, on the ice of the local Ostrava Arena. 

• Expert Predictions Analysis
• Statistics
• Odds
• Game Totals Prediction

Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Sweden vs Slovakia

Sweden

The Swedish team is determined to seriously compete for gold at the World Championship, thereby breaking a series of its own failures at this tournament. One of the most titled teams on the planet, and the Swedes have 11 victories at the World Championships, the last four tournaments have not been able to get past the quarterfinal stage. The seriousness of the Swedes' intentions is evidenced by the fact that this time 18 hockey players from the NHL arrived at the national team's location, including such stars as Hedman, Karlsson, and Dahlin.

So far, this strategy of forming a squad is bearing fruit. The Swedes are steamrolling their opponents in the group, having won five victories in five matches played. the teams of the USA were beaten in turn 5-2, Poland 5-1, Germany 6-1, Kazakhstan 3-1 and Latvia 7-2. The Swedes have currently scored 26 goals, which is the second result in the tournament. Only the German team scored more goals, 28 goals, but the Germans played more in the match. The best scorer in the Swedish national team so far is Minnesota forward Marcus Johansson, who has 9 points scored for performance.

Slovakia

Like the Swedish national team, the Slovaks must rehabilitate themselves in front of their fans for their failure a year ago, when Craig Ramsey’s men were unable to overcome the group stage barrier. The Slovaks were literally two points short of fourth place, which was eventually taken by their neighbors from the Czech Republic. Among the Slovaks, it is worth noting three young hockey players from the NHL, who are called the future of Slovak hockey. These are defenders Martin Fehervari and Shimon Nemec, as well as Montreal forward Juraj Slafkowski. In the meantime, the best in the Slovak national team is 33-year-old forward Libor Hudacek, who currently has 9 points for performance (5+4).

As for the tournament position, the Slovaks are now in third place in Group B, with 11 points scored. The Slovaks' main competitors are the US and Latvian national teams, which are behind by one and four points, respectively. The Slovaks have already played against the Americans, winning in a dramatic match with a score of 5-4, and the winning goal was scored in overtime. The Slovaks also have victories over the national teams of Kazakhstan 6-2, Poland 4-0 and France 4-2, with one defeat from the German national team 4-6.

Statistics

In the last three official head-to-head matches of these teams, the Swedes were three times stronger, never allowing the Slovaks to score more than one goal per match. IT2M (1.5). As for the relationship between these teams at the World Championships, the last time the Slovaks defeated the Swedes was in 2006, since then the Swedish team has won five matches in a row.

Odds from download 1xbet

The Swedes are clear favorites in this match; bookmaker 1xbet gives odds of 1.5 for the Scandinavians to win in regular time. For comparison, a possible victory for the Slovaks is offered with odds of 5.4. A similar odds of 5.5 for a draw in the main time of the match. In terms of the overall performance of teams, the bookmaker offers the following quotes: Total over (5.5) – 1.89, Total less (5.5) – 1.91. Install the 1xbet app and place a bet on the favorite!

Game Totals Prediction

Both teams performed quite well in the group stage, primarily in terms of attacking play. The average performance of the Swedish national team is at the level of five goals per match; for the Slovaks this figure is not much lower - 4.6 goals per match. The Swedes practically guaranteed themselves the final first place in the group, so there won’t be much psychological pressure on the hockey players. We are waiting for open hockey, with a lot of goals scored. Our forecast is Total Over 5.5 with odds of 1.89.