France U21 v Croatia U21
Friday 21st June 2000hrs
Football – International – UEFA U21 Championship
Pick Both teams to score
Bookmaker Unibet
Odds: 4/5 (odds taken 12.35 GMT, Thursday 20th June)
The French eventually got off to a winning start and will be looking to follow up with a win against a Croatia team who were roundly beaten by Romania on the same evening.
UEFA U21 Championship Betting at Unibet
France U21 Preview – Are France going to take control of Group C?
France were many people’s favourites to win this tournament before a ball was kicked. Considering the players they have at their disposal that’s really no surprise. Moussa Dembele has starred for Lyon in Ligue 1 this season and headed a long list of talented players. The tournament never started well for Dembele, however, missing one of two penalties France were awarded and squandered. Thankfully for Les Bleus they were able to recover sufficiently enough to take all their points but it was a nervy encounter having to wait until the closing minutes to equalise and then find the winner. On one hand it could be considered they were unconvincing, but they found a way to win. It’s a good train for any team at any time, but particularly in tournament football.
For all the talented generations for French footballers down the years they have only won this competition once before. That came all the way back in 1988 when it was still a two-legged final so they will feel another success is long overdue. With that quality they have in the squad and going by the first game we may well see some changes. Celtic’s Olivier Ntcham came off the bench at 1-0 against England and may have earned a start.
Croatia U21 – Can Croatia bounce back from a demoralising defeat?
The Croatians are a developing nation in many ways still having only gained independence in 1991. In footballing terms, they have come a long way and peaked with their World Cup final appearance last summer. There’s no doubt they punch above their weight, but this is only their third appearance at this competition. On their previous two entries they never made it past the group stage. Being paired in a section with both France and England was always going to make it extremely difficult to make it to the knockout phase for the first time. To have any realistic chance they had to get off to a good start against Romania. Unfortunately, it never worked out that way and the Croats were giving something of a lesson. The defeat goes down as their biggest loss so far at the finals.
Croatia are unable to compete with France in terms of the pool of players they can select from. Leicester’s Filip Benkovic and Milan’s Alen Halilovic are arguably the two most well-known players in the squad. Both will have to pull on their best form to get a response from the others in the squad and keep their faint qualification hopes alive.
Key-Facts – France U21 v Croatia U21
- France were narrow winners over England and are favourites to win the competition
- Croatia have never made it by the group stage in these Championships and have their work cut out after a 4-1 thrashing from Romania
- The Croats have not failed to score in a game since 2013 whilst France have kept only eight clean sheets in 20 attempts
France U21 v Croatia U21 Betting Advice
Just under a year ago the senior teams of these nations were ready to battle it out for the World Cup. France were successful on that occasion, of course, and they are fancied to be victorious at this level of the game tomorrow. Les Bleus are narrowly preferred by the bookmakers to win the competition, ahead of Germany. The first performance showed, though, that they are still a work in progress. The hope is they progress as they go through the tournament but Croatia may feel they have hope of springing a surprise.
France concede more often than not and have kept just eight clean sheets in their last 20 games. The last time Croatia’s u21 team failed to score in a game was all the way back in 2013. That’s an incredible run and one that suggest they have an attacking threat to worry the French. The circumstances are also such that they essentially need to win so will have an offensive mindset. France have been known to be complacent at times and prone to a lazy spell in the game. It makes both teams to score a really attractive proposition here.
