Denmark vs Austria Prediction: Don't expect high-scoring activity

Prediction for the Hockey World Cup Denmark vs Austria match, which will take place on May 16th. Who will turn out to be stronger? Check the team conditions! Several betting options are available.

While most national teams are experiencing personnel problems, the Danish national team has invited almost all of the country's best hockey players. Even Nikolaj Ehlers has solved all his insurance problems and continues to play in the 2023 World Cup. With such a strong roster, you would expect the Vikings to play with strength and confidence, but so far, there have been some problems with that, but not with the results. In their opening game in the tournament, the team had some problems but handled the modest Hungarians 3:1. The day before, the Red-Whites faced a slightly more formidable opponent - the French, but again they snatched a tough 4:3 win thanks to a Patrick Roussel's puck.

The Austria squad for World Cup 2023 is not aiming for the playoffs, but they do have a tournament goal: to retain their place in the world's elite division. It's not often the Red and White play at such a high level, so they would like to stay here longer. They made a good start in the tournament, stealing a point from the French in a 2:1 overtime loss. The day before, the Eagles had played a far more formidable opponent, the Swedes. Of course, this game had little chance of success, so the Austrians lost with a score of 0:5. Their key match is on 22 May, against Hungary.

The Danish team made a decent start to the World Cup, scoring two wins in a row. The opponents were not of the highest status. Still, the Vikings have managed to avoid unpleasant sensations and, therefore, in their forthcoming clash with the Austrians, they can be confident in their success. For the Eagles, the World Cup is going well so far, they have snatched one point in the opening game, but the key match awaits them at the end of the group stage. The Austrians are unlikely to put up much of a challenge against the more skilled and experienced Danes, who are aiming to make the playoffs at the 2023 World Cup. As a result, we should place a bet on Denmark's victory with a handicap (-1.5).

We shouldn't expect high-scoring activity in the upcoming game. The Danes and Austrians' last meeting at the World Cup was productive when the Vikings won 5:2, but that was back-to-back World Cup 2009. On the other hand, in their five previous encounters in recent friendlies, the opponents had drawn just 19 goals between them (3.80 goals per game on average). With this in mind, we would expect a total under 4.5, and separately we should look at an individual Austrian total under 1.5.