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Portugal and France will square off Friday in Hamburg with a place in the Euro 2024 semifinals on the line.
Portugal is coming after an unimpressive clash with Slovenia, Ronaldo’s side needing a penalty shootout to edge that one after neither team managed to score in 120 minutes of play. After previously losing 0-2 to Georgia, Portugal badly needs to regain its early tournament form ahead of this clash against the mighty French.
However, the mighty French aren’t looking particularly spectacular either. The 1-0 Round of 16 win against Belgium was solid, but it was a largely unimpressive tournament so far for Les Bleus, who have struggled to create danger offensively.
Team news & lineups:
Portugal is at full strength, while France will miss Rabiot, suspended.
Portugal: Costa – Cancelo, Pepe, Dias, Mendes – Vitinha, Palhinha – Silva, Fernandes, Leao – Ronaldo
France: Maignan – Kounde, Upamecano, Saliba, Hernandez – Kante, Tchouameni – Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe – Thuram
Portugal looked clueless offensively against Slovenia, while France has been unable to score more than one goal in a match for the entire tournament (1-0, 0-0, 1-1, 1-0).
When you add the results of these two teams so far, we have six matches with under 2,5 goals from the eight they played.
I think this has the makings of a low scoring game. It’s a tight clash with a lot at stake, both sides have defended well and neither has really found its form at front despite the obvious quality of the attacking players.
For what it’s worth, 4 of the last 5 meetings ended with under 2,5 goals. The previous clash was a 2-2 draw at Euro 2021, but even that match had two penalties to push it over 2,5 goals.
I’m going with the under here. Prediction: Portugal – France 0-0 (France via penalties).
Pick: under 2,5 goals
Odds: 1.56 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 5.04
Event date: 5 July
