Czech Republic vs Latvia Prediction: Keeping a Place in the Elite Division Would Be Nice

Prediction for the IIHF World Championship Czech Republic vs Latvia match which will take place on May 15th. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available. 

The Czech national team will once again play in the elite of world hockey. They could not get to the awards at the championships for a decade, but last year they finally won the bronze. Now they plan to step even further, and the start of the 2023 World Cup only confirms this. In the opening match at the tournament, Kari Jalonen's wards had a fun first period against the Slovaks, following which they led – 3:2. Then they achieved victory – 3:2. Next, the Czechs played an even easier match with the national team of Kazakhstan, in which they again productively spent the opening twenty minutes – 2:0, and then defeated the opponent – 5:1.

The Latvian national team continues to disappoint. So far, things could be better for Harijs Vitolins as the head coach of the national team. Following the failure at the Olympic Games-2022 and the World Cup-2022, his wards risk playing unsuccessfully at the home World Cup-2023. In the opening game against the Canadians, it was hardly worth betting on success. The defeat was painful – 0:6. The most crucial match for the Latvians was the day before against the Slovak national team, in which it was impossible to lose points, but they did not score a single point at all, losing in regular time - 1:2.

The Czech Republic and Latvia national teams in the 2023 World Cup debut showed different results. Kari Jalonen's wards look very good, having collected six out of six possible points, but Latvia is still experiencing severe game problems, having lost both games in the main time. For Latvians, the task for the rest of the tournament looks much more ordinary than three days earlier: instead of fighting for the playoffs, keeping a place in the elite division would be nice.

The Czech Republic and Latvia national teams are not among the most breathtaking and open at international tournaments. Nevertheless, they constantly show productive matches. In the five previous meetings, the opponents scored 33 goals against each other (6.60 on average per game), which is an outstanding result.