France will take on Greece in the Euro 2024 qualifiers on Monday night and the World Cup finalists will look to build on their comprehensive win over Gibraltar in the last outing.
France picked up a 3-0 win over Gibraltar earlier this week and they will be confident of grinding out a similar result year.
The French national team are unbeaten in five of their last six outings with the only defeat coming against Argentina in the final of the World Cup. The last time these two sides met back in 2006, France picked up a 1-0 win and they will be hoping for more of the same here.
On the other hand, Greece picked up a 2-1 win over Ireland in the Euro 2024 qualifiers earlier this week and they will look to pull off an upset against France.
France have won all of their games in the Group B qualifiers and this is likely to be a crunch contest.
Les Bleus arrived at Clairefontaine yesterday for the final international break of the 2022/23 season. pic.twitter.com/FXxt1yep1T
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) June 10, 2023
Team news and tactics
France
AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan missed the game on Friday night because of a calf injury and Lens goalkeeper Brice Samba is likely to start here as well.
Ferland Mendy and Adrien Rabiot missed the game against Gibraltar with injuries and they are likely to be sidelined here.
Samba is likely to continue in goal with France shaping up in a 4-3-3 formation.
Jules Kounde and Theo Hernandez are likely to be deployed as the full-backs and the two players will look to contribute offensively as well.
Wesley Fofana will start alongside Ibrahima konate at the heart of the defence.
In the midfield, Aurelien Tchouameni will anchor the midfield alongside Eduardo Camavinga and Antoine Griezmann will look to play as the advanced midfielder creating goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates.
Kingsley Coman and Kylian Mbappe will be the wide forwards here with Olivier Giroud leading the line.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Samba; Kounde, Fofana, Konate, Hernandez; Camavinga, Tchouameni, Griezmann; Coman, Giroud, Mbappe
Greece
Gus Poyet could be without the services of Andreas Bouchalakis and Dimitris Giannoulis because of injuries.
Odysseas Vlachodimos is expected to start in goal for Greece as they line up in a 4-3-3 formation.
George Baldock and Kostas Tsimikas will start as the full-backs here. Konstantinos Mavropanos will partner with Pantelis Chatzidiakos at the heart of the defence.
In the midfield three, Anastasios Bakasetas will start alongside Dimitris Kourbelis and Petros Mantalos.
In the front three, Vangelis Pavlidis will lead the line for Greece alongside Dimitris Pelkas and Giorgos Masouras.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Vlachodimos; Baldock, Mavropanos, Chatzidiakos, Tsimikas; Bakasetas, Kourbelis, Mantalos; Masouras, Pavlidis, Pelkas
Key Stats
- Greece have won the last two matches across all competitions.
- France have won five of the last six matches across all competitions.
- The last two matches between these two sides have ended up with a win for either side.
- France have kept a clean sheet in four of their last five matches.
Player to watch out for
Olivier Giroud
Olivier Giroud, France's all-time leading scorer, struck after three minutes on the day he equaled Thierry Henry for third in all-time Les Bleus appearances (123) ⚡ pic.twitter.com/upJo4oIj4R
— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 16, 2023
The 36-year-old French international is in fine form and he managed to get on the score sheet against Gibraltar.
Giroud has scored 6 goals in his last 4 appearances for club and country and he will be our main man to watch out for.
France could use his holdup play and physicality against a conservative Greek defence and the 36-year-old could help open up opportunities for his teammates.
Prediction
France 1-0 Greece
This is likely to be a close contest with both teams desperate for the three points.
France are undoubtedly the better team on paper and they will be the favourites but Greece have proven difficult to beat in their recent outings.
The Hard Tackle predicts a narrow 1-0 victory for France against Greece.