France V Andorra
Tuesday 10th September 2019 – 19:45 Kick-Off
UEFA European Championships Qualifying
Pick: Kingsley Coman Anytime Goalscorer
Odds: Evens (1/1)
Bookmaker: Betfair
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/100 | 30/1 | 46/1 |
* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of 8th September 2019 at 11:35)
Preview: Top of Group H but doing so alongside the pair of Iceland and Turkey, France know there can be no let up here despite facing what is unquestionably the weakest nation in this section. Andorra are ranked 136 in the world and are the only team in the group still to register a point. Surely their first won’t arrive at the Stade de France?
UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying Betting – 22Bet
France Preview – Les Blues seeking to pile on goal difference?
There can be no complacency from France. As while they do currently sit atop of Group H, it is an honour shared three ways with Turkey and Iceland, with all three nations registering 12 points after five games played. The difference so far has been Les Bleus’ ability to rack up big scorelines, as they did a few days ago when comfortably seeing off Albania in Paris to win 4-1 courtesy of goals from Kingsley Coman (x2), Olivier Giroud and Jonathan Ikone.
Therefore, another emphatic victory would certainly have its uses. The vociferous home support inside Stade de France will demand nothing less and, in fairness to them, there is some justification in that. Of course they are facing modest opposition, but Les Bleus have also set the bar fairly high by scoring four times in both of their home qualifiers so far, impressively thrashing Iceland 4-0 earlier in the campaign as well as securing that above result versus Albania. Both were against teams ranked considerably higher than Andorra.
Four does seem to be a common theme with France. That they have played Andorra on four previous occasions is of little relevance, but they did score precisely four goals in each of the last two meetings, with one of those occurring earlier in this group campaign away from home. In fact, France have notched precisely four goals in all four of their Group H victories, with the only one not garnering a mention being a 4-1 triumph over Moldova. Fourceful France? I’m hoping it catches on.
Andorra Preview – Underdogs to take heart from latest showing?
It has been a rough old ride for the country ranked 136 in the latest FIFA Rankings, with coach Koldo Alvarez overseeing the only team still to register a point in Group H. Beaten routinely first time out at home to Iceland (0-2), eventually thrashed 3-0 at home by Albania, narrowly losing in Moldova (1-0) and thumped for four by France (0-4) on their own patch. That had been their Euro 2020 campaign in a nutshell prior to taking on Turkey in Istanbul on Saturday.
Unfortunately the trend of losing matches did continue against Turkey, but only after the team produced a valiant effort. Andorra did what they almost always do; pack the defence with numbers and remain compact. It so nearly came together for them as well, in what would have been an historic result. Yet they were to be denied in the very last minute of normal time, with Ozan Tufan striking the cruellest of blows in the 89th minute to seal a hard-fought 1-0 win for Turkey.
Whether the Andorran players will take heart from that particular performance or still feel the effects that such a demoralising outcome can naturally have remains to be seen, but their ultra defensive approach is highly unlikely to differ. The facts make for straightforward reading, though: no win in their last thirteen matches (D6 L7), failing to even score in eleven of them. That loss in Turkey only three days earlier being their fifth ‘to nil’ loss in consecutive fashion.
France V Andorra Key Facts:
- All four of France‘s victories in this group campaign (W4 L1) saw them score exactly four goals.
- Andorra have recorded five successive losses in this group, all were without scoring a goal.
- France have recorded 4-0 scorelines in each of the most recent two meetings with Andorra.
Betting Summary
It might not be the most creative of statements but this really is a case of whether or not France want the goals in this match, because with the correct application the potential to hit at least four goals in a game for the fifth occasion in this group is certainly there. So far, goals are all that is keeping Les Bleus top of the standings, so it isn’t like they can afford to dismiss this opportunity to bolster that particular statistic.
Following their spirited performance in Turkey on Saturday, when it took a goal in the 89 minute to deny them a famous draw and their first point of this group campaign, some might be bullish about the prospects of Andorra producing something similar in Paris. The likelihood of them scoring certainly seems remote, with them failing to do so in 11 of their last 13 matches, with that loss three days prior counting as the fifth defeat without scoring in succession.
Extracting anything resembling value from this lopsided contest isn’t exactly straightforward. Seeing as all four of their victories in this group saw them net precisely four goals, a punt on France 4-0 Correct Score at 11/2 with Coral is worth a shot. Deputising for the injured Kylian Mbappe in the last game was Kingsley Coman, with the Bayern Munich wideman netting a brace. His intelligent runs was key to France getting in behind a deep-lying Albania defence and the talented 23-year-old remains good value to score against a team adopting similar tactics.
