Two weeks ago, at the season opener in Soelden, Viktoria Rebensburg secured her fist win this season. The 28-year-old German(struggled in the previous season with back problems and a tibial fracture, only two podium finishes) successfully overcome a slight mistake in the first run to claim her first win of the 2017/18 season. Tessa Worley finished second and Manuela Moelgg finished the race in third place. The 2017 Overall champion Mikaela Shiffrin finished the first run in second place, but after a mistake in the second run, she finished in the fifth place.
Women’s Slalom – Levi 2017 Betting Preview and Predictions
Mikaela Shiffrin clinched her fourth crystal globe in slalom last season, after winning in 2013, 2014 and 2015. She won six of the nine slalom races last World Cup season, recording a second place, third place, and DNF in the other three races. In her last 20 participations in a World Cup slalom race, Shiffrin finished on the podium 19 times: 16 wins, one-second place, and two third places. The only exception in this run was the Zagreb World Cup last January when she recorded a DNF. Shiffrin could win her third World Cup Levi slalom race, after 2013 and 2016. She has only claimed three World Cup slalom victories at the same venue in Åre, Sweden. She is a 1.50 favourite at most of the bookmakers and given that she won 7 out of 10 slalom(including last seasons race here) races previous season, the odds are correct.
Prediction: Mikaela Shiffrin to win
Odds: 1.50 Bet365, 1.47 Pinnacle
Since the start of the 2014/15 season, only three women have managed to win multiple World Cup slalom races besides Mikaela Shiffrin(16 wins, another reason why is she a 1.50 favourite): Frida Hansdotter (3), Veronika Velez-Zuzulová (3), and Petra Vlhová (2). Hansdotter won the slalom crystal globe in 2016, becoming the fourth Swedish woman to do so after Pernilla Wiberg (1997), Ylva Nowén (1998) and Anja Pärson (2004). She has won four World Cup slalom races: Kranjska Gora in 2013/14, Flachau in 2014/15, Lienz in 2015/16 and Flachau in 2016/17. Shiffrin and Hansdotter are the only women to claim at least one victory in a World Cup slalom race in each of the last four World Cup seasons. Vlhová has won two slalom races in the World Cup: Åre in 2015 and Aspen in 2017, the final slalom race of the previous season. Vlhová can become the first woman, other than Shiffrin, to win back-toback World Cup slalom races since Velez-Zuzulová in January 2016 (two Flachau wins).
I recommend a bet on Petra Vlhova to beat Frida Hansdotter tomorrow. Although Hansdotter is a more experienced skier, her results were not exactly impressive previous season(4th place overall in slalom). Vlhova finished 5th overall in slalom last season, she is 10 years younger and given that she is the only Slovakian representative with any decent chances for an upset, motivation should be high. She also won at Aspen, the final slalom race of the previous season.
Player vs Player prediction: Frida Hansdotter vs Petra Vlhova – Petra Vlhova to win
Odds: 1.909 Pinnacle, 1.83 Bet365
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