Tip: Exhausted Poland will struggle to resist an attack-happy Slovakia!

In the bottom of Group B, an important match awaits Poland and France in the battle to stay in the A-World Championships. Slovakia is coming off a strong performance against the USA where Milos Kelemen led the way in the upset victory by scoring the opening goal and the decisive one in overtime!

Poland has started energetically!

So far, Poland has only played two matches and has done well. The newcomers in the A-World Championships aim to stay in the elite so they can play in the World Championships next year as well. For them to succeed in this feat, it is especially the matches against France and Kazakhstan that must yield points. Last time, they lost to Sweden in a lackluster story where Tre Kronor only did what they needed to. In the opening match, Poland impressed by playing to a 4-4 draw against Latvia and taking an important point.

Like Poland, France comes into the game with a point after also losing to Latvia in overtime the day before yesterday. Neither team can boast of having particularly well-known players on the ice. France indeed has KHL player Da Costa and NHL player Bellemare, but they are not stars in their respective leagues. Poland has shown evidence of strong collective efforts and will fight for every inch against France, being well aware of the significance of the match. The question remains, how much firepower is left for tomorrow's match against Slovakia?

Slovakia shocked and won!

Slovakia has been a breath of fresh air in this championship. They started by losing 4-6 to Germany in a real chaos match where the Slovak goalie seemed to have played over the line, considering the performance. In the match that followed, they won without much trouble against Kazakhstan 6-2, and then shocked significantly against the USA. Before the tournament, I ranked Slovakia third in the group based on the fine offense the team brought to the championship. Pospisil, Nemec, Tatar, Fehérváry, Cehlárik, Hrivík, and others are of high class and have shown that they are here to compete.

Slovakia does not play a match today and after tomorrow's match against Poland, they rest until Saturday. The discharge against the USA certainly took its toll, but given that the Slovaks have a longer rest and that Poland is gearing up today against France, I think it sets up for a comfortable victory.

Betting tips and conclusion

Slovakia is a much better team than Poland, that's clear to everyone. Normally, I'm very cautious with tough minus lines. It's easy for big favorites to slow down the tempo and just play off the game. But given what we've seen from Slovakia so far, there seems to be only one gear, and that's full speed ahead! All the offensive skill Slovakia has should come into play against a likely tired Poland, and the risk feels imminent for a rout!

Slovakia -3.5 @ 1.71 on bet365!