Reigning world champions France resume their UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying campaign with a home match on Saturday, they host Albania in Group H at Stade de France in Paris. The two teams have last met at the 2016 European Championship, it was a historic occasion for Albania as it was their first ever final tournament, but they lost 2-0 against France and failed to qualify from the group stage. Albania do have a recent famous victory over France, they defeated them 1-0 in a friendly match in 2015.
France might have been hoping for a better start to the campaign after their failed adventure in the UEFA Nations League. They did win three matches but they lost 2-0 in Turkey in June, and that result left them tied on 9 points with both Turkey and Iceland. The French can't afford any more slip-ups at the moment, because any missed victory could make the situation in the group quite difficult for the world champions. Aymeric Laporte and Paul Pogba have withdrawn from the squad due to injuries.
Albania are hoping to reach their second consecutive final tournament, but for now they are trailing France, Turkey and Iceland by three points after four matches. In fact, so far they have beaten only group minnows Andorra and Moldova, when they encountered serious opposition they lost. First they were defeated 2-0 at home by Turkey, and then they were unable to avoid a 1-0 loss in Iceland. They will most likely aim for a goalless draw in Paris, and hope for some luck on a counter-attack.
Probable line-ups:
France: Lloris - Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez - Sissoko, Matuidi - Ikone, Griezmann, Coman - Giroud
Albania: Berisha - Veselj, Ismajli, Mavraj - Hysaj, Abrashi, T. Xhaka, Memushaj, Lenjani - Uzuni, Balaj
My prediction:
France are missing a few first-team regulars and Albania can be quite resolute when they are set out to defend, but the home side should still be able to grab a 2-0 win.
Here are the odds for the match at NetBet:
France win - 1.11
Draw - 10.00
Albania win - 34.00
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