Finland vs Switzerland: Suomi will justify their status as favorites

Finland beat the Swiss with a score of 5:1 in their last individual meeting at the 2022 Olympics. Will Patrik Fischer's men get their revenge in the upcoming game? We predict that Suomi will once again be closer to success!

The Finnish team continues their preparations for the World Cup at home, where they will be the main favorites. At the 2022 Olympics, they were triumphant in the tournament. Suomi beat Russia 2:1 and then extended their winning streak: they won the Danes 4:3 and 1:0 and the Norwegians 6:2 and 2:1 each, before defeating the Czech Republic and Austria 2:1 and 4:2 respectively in the third round of the Eurocup. Finland's winning streak was interrupted only in the last game, losing to Sweden 0:2.

Switzerland is a formidable team. It seemed that at the Beijing Olympics, Patrik Fischer's charges would be able to compete for something great, but in fact, the tournament was not a success for them. In the group stage, they lost all three games, then in the quarter-final, they created a sensation, beating the Czech Republic (4:2), but failed to the Finns (1:5). Since then, they have played six friendlies, twice winning France 4:2 and 4:1, Latvia 5:2 and 3:1, while the Swiss have exchanged victories with the Germans, 2:4 and 6:1.

Finland is a finalist in all the recent major international tournaments and continues to prepare for the World Cup at home. Suomi's squad is close to their best, so they continue to win even in friendlies, as Jukka Jalonen's side plays too systematically. The Swiss are an extremely unyielding team, beating their opponents in every game, but they could not split anything with the Blues and Whites at the Beijing Olympics (1:5). As a result, we suggest betting on Finland to win with a handicap (-1.5) for 1.87.

Overall, the Suomi have scored only 33 goals (3.67 goals per game average) in their last nine games. Patrick Fischer's men are unlikely to play open and attacking hockey, especially in Tampere suddenly. With that in mind, we suggest betting on a total under 4.5 for 2.45.

Finland is a team used to playing defensively, so in almost every game, the Suomi have lost to their opponents in terms of shots on target. In their last match at the Olympics, the Swiss outscored the Finns (34:23), although they lost by a score of 1:5. In such a situation, it is worth looking at a bet on the Swiss team's victory by shots on target with a handicap (-2.5) for 1.85.