France – Ukraine

Surely at least some people were expecting struggling France to have problems in Kiev four days ago, but few were able to see that 2-0 Ukraine win coming. The eastern europeans are firm favorites to qualify for Brazil, but France will give it their all today at home, in Paris.

France couldn`t get much momentum going in the group, always being second best behind Spain and only assuring qualification for the playoffs in the second to last round, despite eventually finishing 8 points above Finland. “Les Bleus” did catch a good run of form lately, winning with 13-2 aggregate against Belarus, Finland and Australia (friendly), but the game in Ukraine proved that France still has a lot of work to do. For today the hosts might miss both their regulars center backs: Koscielny is suspended and Varane is doubtful.

Ukraine did very well in the qualies to finish just 1 point behind England, with a little bit of luck they could have advanced directly to the World Cup. Ukraine was brilliant in the first leg against France, assuring a famous victory that puts them in pole position to go trough. The team is in fantastic form, undefeated in the last 12 games with 10 wins and 2 draws, so it will be very hard for France to turn back that 2-0 deficit. Ukraine is close to a clean bill of health, but Fedetskiy and Kucher are suspended. Error-prone Pyatov will start in goal.

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Probable lineups

France: Lloris – Sagna, Sakho, Abidal, Evra – Nasri, Pogba, Matuidi, Ribery – Giroud, Benzema

Ukraine: Pyatov – Fedetskyi, Khacheridi, Rakitskiy, Shevchuk – Tymoschuk, Rotan, Yarmolenko, Edmar, Konoplyanka – Zozulya

Both teams can score, France scored 15 times in 8 games in the group and Ukraine scored 28 times in 10 games in the group (many goals came against San Marino, but still).

France has no choice but to approach this game with an attacking mentality – a clear proof is that Deschamps is considering to start with both Benzema and Giroud, which really means he is desperate. France will probably be reasonably patient at first, but they will dominate possession and try to force errors from a not so good Ukrainean defense. And with every minute passed, France will be under increasing pressure to score. The visitors on the other hand know that if they score a goal they will have huge chances of going trough, and for sure they will be able to see some open spaces in the France defense. This looks like a high scoring game to me with France needing to attack and Ukraine looking for a goal on the break. Missings in defense for both sides can also help make this bet a winner. My prediction is over 2,5 goals. France – Ukraine 2-1. The odds are very good.

Pick: over 2,5 goals
Odds: 2.09 @ Sbobet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 8.72
Event date: 19 November

Editor Facts

• Ocean won his only tip involving France in these qualifiers