Czech
Before the start of the current World Cup, the Czech national team was leading the home leg of the Eurotour, after training for the game. The beginning of the group stage of the World Cup for the Czech Republic turned out to be quite successful – in the first round the Czech Republic defeated Slovakia 3:2. In the second round, the Czechs have a great opportunity to once again easily score maximum points – the rivals are Kazakhstan, which of course is clearly inferior to the Czechs in the class. It seems, however, that the bookmakers have exaggerated the odds – for a pure triumph of the Czechs, they offer odds around 1.03. Kazakhstan showed yesterday that it can show good hockey, so a very pragmatic Czech team is unlikely to cause a full-fledged pogrom. Most likely, the Czech team will win, but the result will be decent.
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan kicked off this World Cup with a victory over Norway, although the Kazakh team was mentioned as clearly underdog before the confrontation began. The triumph in the match against the Scandinavians will help the Kazakhs in the fight to keep their place in the elite. Yes, if you look at the bare statistics, Norway was stronger in all components, but Kazakhstan made excellent use of their chances and deservedly won on penalties. In the match against the Czech Republic, it’s not worth counting on points, after all, the Czech Republic is clearly higher in the class than Norway, and the “lions” still have plenty of motivation. But it is unlikely that the Kazakh national team will lose with an indecent result – among the nominal guests there are experienced guys who showed themselves well in the KHL in their time, so Kazakhstan is able to maintain a 4.5-goal advantage.
Forecast
It is hard to believe that Kazakhstan will be able to take away points from the Czechs, but the weaker one is able to avoid a full-fledged pogrom. The Czechs will try to win without extra effort, and the Czechs simply do not need to break Kazakhstan, and the Kazakhs themselves showed the day before that they can surprise. I will take a huge positive handicap on Kazakhstan with good odds.