Russia vs Sweden. What will be the opening match for the Russian team at the World Youth Championship?

The Russian national team will begin their performance at the MFM 2021 on December 27 with a game against the Swedish national team. The meeting will take place in the Canadian town of Red Deer, on the ice of the local seven-thousander "Westerner Park Centrium".

• Expert Predictions Analysis
• Russia vs Sweden facts
• ODDs
• Game Totals Prediction

Our Expert Predictions & Analysis on Russia vs Sweden

Russia

The Russian youth team last won gold at the World Championship in 2011, when Panarin, Tarasenko and Kuznetsov enchantingly snatched gold from the Canadians, losing 0-3 during the match. Since then, the Russian team has won medals eight times (4 silver and 4 bronze medals), but never made it to gold. Last year, the Russian team was completely out of the podium, losing first to the Canadians in the semifinal game 0-5, and then in the match for the bronze of the Finnish national team 1-4. Such a result can hardly be called successful, so the resignation of Igor Larionov was expected.

Now the Russian national team is leaving for Canada under the leadership of Sergei Zubov, as a club coach with experience of independent work in SKA and HC Sochi. As expected, the base club for completing the national team was the St. Petersburg SKA, which delegated 10 hockey players to the national team at once. It is worth paying attention to the 17-year-old striker Matvey Michkov, who managed to play for the senior national team in the Karjall Cup this season and score an abandoned puck there. It was Michkov who was the main figure in the Russian national team in the recent test match with the Canadian national team. On account of Matvey two goals and an assist. This was not enough for the overall success, the Canadians were stronger, winning 6-4.

Sweden

If the Russian national team won the last time at the MFM in 2011, the Swedes did it a year later, beating just Russian hockey players in the final. Last year, the Swedes left the championship early enough, losing in the quarterfinals to their neighbors from Finland. Now in Canada, the Swedish national team is carrying a team that is quite serious in name, which is quite capable of competing for medals. At the helm of the national team is still Thomas Monten, who was forced to lead the team remotely at the last World Cup due to the coronavirus.

The main star of the team is 19-year-old striker Alexander Holz, for whom the upcoming championship will be the third in his career. Holtz is currently the current player in New Jersey, for which he has played 6 games this season, scoring two assists. Before the start of the championship, the Swedes had a test match against the Austrian national team, having achieved a convincing victory with a score of 7-0.

Statistics

This season, the youth teams of Russia and Sweden held two friendly matches, and both times the Russian hockey players were stronger. They won 4-1 in August and 5-2 in November. It is worth noting that in those matches the line-ups were far from optimal, so it is not worth putting a serious emphasis on these results. As for the relationship between these teams within the World Championships, here it is worth paying attention to the fact that the last four games went beyond the regular time, the winner was already determined in overtime. The Russian national team won three times (2-1, 5-4 and 4-3 at the last World Championship), in 2018 the Swedes won 4-3.

ODDs from download 1xbet

In the bookmaker's odds on the outcome of this match, there is a slight tilt towards the Swedes: the victory of the Russian national team - 2.49, the victory of the Swedish national team - 2.46. The option with a tie can be taken for 4.3. With regard to performance, here the base total for youth teams is 5.5 proposed with the following coefficients: Total over (5.5) - 1.87, Total under (5.5) - 1.94. Install the 1xbet app and place a bet on the favorite!

Game Totals Prediction

It is difficult to assess the current form of the teams, so we suggest paying attention to the total goals scored. Youth hockey is famous for its expression, there is no place for dry pragmatism. The statistics of the meetings between the national teams of Russia and Sweden confirms this. In each of the last five matches, at least five goals have been scored, so in the upcoming game one should expect an abundance of goalscoring. Our forecast is Total Over 5.5 with odds 1.87.