Austria
Austria is in danger of being relegated from the top flight in 1A as they are now bottom of the A octet in Tampere, Finland with just 1 point from 6 matches. Bader’s charges scored a point at the start of the World Cup when they went to extra time with France, but they quickly came to a 1-2 there. Otherwise 1-3 from Finland, 2-6 from Denmark, 1-4 from the USA, 2-4 from Germany. I’m not saying that there are too many Russians and no company by their standards, but the team has the lowest score in the group, and it will be a survival match against Hungary.
Hungary
The top Hungarians consistently received 7 (1-7 from the USA, Finns, Swedes and 2-7 from Germany). It was 3-1 against Denmark, but they are ahead of the Austrians, beating France 3-2 in extra time. However, this gives a local advantage over Austria, because in the event of a defeat, at least in regular time, at least in penalty kicks, the Hungarians will return to the 1A division a year later. With teams in plus or minus at the same level, they will be head to head, and when it comes to the large number of goals conceded, it can be said that the Hungarians either lacked physical strength or simply played open hockey, which made them suffer.
Forecast
The game does not smell like a result, given its status, as long as it is decided who will remain in the top flight of the World Cup. I must say that in December 2022, the teams played a series of freight cars in the series. Austria won the first match 2-0, and then Hungary retaliated 2-1. I think given the status of the fight, it’s going to be sticky hockey again where we won’t see a lot of pucks. National teams are already the least productive in the group, and here this battle is of such importance.