WC U20, Division I, Group B

Along with this two, in this group are Belarus, Latvia, France and Hungary.

Belarus are favorites for promotion, while their main rivals are Latvians, i think that Slovenia will have to say a word or two. From their last years U20 team they will have 9 same players, and along with them will play almost whole U18 squad that finished 2nd in last year WC U18 in Division I, Group A. I don't think that they will fight to avoid relegation, they will want more.

But i'm not basing this pick on Slovenia, but mostly on Britain. Last year they were the biggest surprise of all Divisions/Groups, they finished 3rd when everyone expected them to get relegated. Key to their success was great result against Norway in first match. Norway were one of the main candidates for promotion, but were really pale and played really bad on that tournament. Despite outshooting Brits with 38-14, they've lost 3:4 which gave Britain boost of confidence. After that they've lost to Italy, but managed to beat France which secured them stay in Division I. Well, i would say it was more because of bad performance of other teams then good performance from Britain (although i was glad when they won bronze). Funny thing is that at the end Italy went down.

Now, i don't think that Britain will get lucky twice in a row. Especially as they didn't have any preparation for this tournament, and first match is always the toughest one. Schedule is also against them as they are not worst rated team in the group, neither 2nd worst rated team in a group. That would fit them as they would meet their concurents (in this case Hungary) in last, fifth, match of the group. In that case they would look on first four rounds as "preparation". Instead of it (as they are third seeded team) they will play Hungary in 2nd round which doesn't fit them at all, in last round they will face France and although they've beaten them last year, i don't think they can repeat it.

Lack of preparation for Brits, while Slovenia had good preparations, and this could be their best U20 team in years should prevail and Slovenians should win this. I think it could be high, but in worst case i can see at least two goals difference. Anyway odds are pure value...

Pick : Slovenia
Odds : 1.82
Stake : 8 / 10
Bookmaker : Pinnacle
Date : 2007-12-12
Match Result :
Tipster Personal Link/Sponsor: http://scythe.blogabet.com/

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