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After the 0-0 draw in Georgia on Friday, France is now three points behind Spain and needs to win the two remaining matches in order to have a hope of winning the group and avoid going to the playoffs. Also, and maybe more importantly, they need to avoid having to play a decisive game against Finland for the 2nd place in the last round – for that they need a win here, if Finland wins in Georgia later in the day. But we can`t use this in the analysis, as Finland plays earlier and might not win. Back to France, the visitors dis not play so bad in these qualies despite the french press being all over them … it was just bad luck for them that they were drawn in the same group with Spain. France was ok in Georgia but missed some clear-cut goalscoring chances and in the end had to settle for a draw.
Belarus was largely disappointing in these qualies, gaining just 4 points so far. The hosts obviously lack quality to challenge the top sides and they are not even able to defend draws, like they used to do in the past. The hosts will go for a win today since they got nothing to lose, so it will not be an all out defensive effort from them, a thing which will give France some spaces to work with. Belarus does not have big injury worries for today`s game, so they are ok in this department.
Regarding team news, the visitors welcome back Pogba and Matuidi, which should allow them to control the midfield. Ribery is questionable and his absence would be a big blow, but the Bayern Munchen winger will probably play. France is pretty much at full strength so Deschamps will field a very strong lineup.
France: Lloris – Sagna, Koscielny, Abidal, Evra – Pogba, Matuidi – Payer, Valbuena, Ribery – Benzema (Giroud)
Deschamps said that he had a talk with the players regarding efficiency in front of goal and that he hopes the lads will be more focused today. He also stated that everybody in the team is motivated to fight for the first place in the group, even though the chances are slim. People tend to think that an upset is on the cards here, but a similar performance to the one in Georgia should assure three points for France. Belarus is weaker at the back at the moment and it`s hard to believe the french can again miss those clear scoring chances. Expect the visitors to control the tempo of the game and take advantage of the fact that the visitors will not defend in numbers. France won the home game against Belarus with a 3-1 scoreline and a similar scoreline would not be surprising today.
Pick France to win this, my call would be 2-1, with Benzema getting back on track and finally scoring for the national team after a span of poor games.
Pick: France
Odds: 1.63 @ Sbobet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 5.04
Event date: 10 September
