Seleccao de Quinas and Les Blues are squaring off again in the non-friendly games. Both sides have met twice since EURO 2016 final. Both fixtures were in the Nations League last year as they were seeded in the same group. Unfortunately, Portugal could not manage to clinch a single win. CR7 and Co lost and were held in a draw once each. They are expected to win here or at least muster a draw to be able to advance to the next stage.
The teams’ previous matches
Portugal suffered a shocking 2-4 loss from Germany in Munich last week. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring first through a swift counter attack scenario. Yet, they conceded four times afterwards through double own goal from Raphael Guerrero and Ruben Dias plus Kai Havertz and Robin Gosens’ goals. The reigning Champions could only respond once as Diogo Jota slotted it home.
France, on the other hand, was surprisingly held in Budapest by Hungary in a 1-1 draw. Les Bleus were even one goal behind when Attila Fiola gave Magyar the lead. Luckily, Antoine Griezmann put his team back on level term after the interval.
Possible tactic
Fernando Santos could be in favour of 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 formation, which led them to a victory over France in the final five years ago. Cristiano Ronaldo will be accompanied by Diogo Jota upfront. In the midfield, Danilo Perreira and William Carvalho are operating in the middle with Rafa Silva and Bernardo Silva occupying the winger role.
Didier Deschamps might still employ 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-1-2 formation. Barcelona man Griezmann will still be the playmaker behind Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema or Wissam Ben Yedder since the Real Madrid forward has not displayed his expected quality as the scorer. Only Ousmane Dembele is on the sideline due to his injury.
Players to watch
The super star Cristiano Ronaldo is still the main scorer of the team. He has netted three goals and is currently the leading scorer of the tournament. Some other notable names to watch are Ruben Dias and Liverpool man Diogo Jota contributing one goal and one assist.
Meanwhile, Antoine Griezmann remains the key figure in France’s attack alongside Kylian Mbappe although the latter one has not scored one yet. Some other vital names in the squad are NGolo Kante, Paul Pogba and Hugo Lloris.
Portugal vs France Prediction
The clash of these two favorites might be tighter with less goals than the Portugal-Germany encounter since Deschamps’ men will be more cautious after the tie in Budapest to avoid conceding, while CR7 and Co could be deploying more pragmatic approach to lure Les Blues out of their defence line so that they could strike back to steal a goal.
Betting odds
Neither side seems to be the favorite in this fixture. Fernando Santos’ side are backed to win at 29/10, The odds for the draw result are at 21/10, whereas Les Blues’ win market is only at 39/29.
