Kick Off: 1945, 25/03/2017
Stadium: Josy-Barthel
TV: Sky Sports
France are the 7/1 second favourites to go one better in the 2018 World Cup than they did at Euro 2016 and Les Bleus can overcome another obstacle on the road to Russia by winning in Luxembourg.
Les Bleus have won all 13 competitive meetings with Saturday night’s hosts and most punters will be focusing on how many the visitors will prevail by in this fixture.
Didier Deschamps’ side does contain plenty of creative flair and we like 4/1 for a correct score of 3-0 for the first of our Luxembourg vs France betting tips.
A Look At Luxembourg’s Betting Odds
To be fair, Luxembourg have shown plenty of spirit in four previous Group A games, starting out with a 4-3 loss in Belarus when the lead swung one way and then the other until the hosts clinched a thrilling victory two minutes into stoppage time.
Things haven’t quite been as eventful since that match but the Red Lions only conceded once when losing at home to Sweden and then picked up a point with a 1-1 draw in Belarus.
Further evidence that Luxembourg are no longer prepared to simply roll over when facing major nations came when a Maxime Chanot penalty pulled them level with the Netherlands last November, only for Memphis Depay to settle the result with a second-half double.
Nevertheless, in the multiple correct score market, we prefer 23/20 for France to prevail 1-0, 2-0 or 3-0, rather than getting giddy with bigger options.
A Look At France’s Betting Odds
France began their campaign with a lacklustre 0-0 draw in Belarus but have since established themselves as the team to beat in Group A by taking maximum points from their next three fixtures.
Bulgaria were brushed aside 4-1 at the Stade de France before a 1-0 win in Holland and a 2-1 home success against Sweden cemented their place at the head of the early pool table.
Antoine Griezmann, Kevin Gameiro and Dimitri Payet have all been in good form in front of goal so far but Paul Pogba has probably been France’s top performer and the Manchester United ace misses out here through injury.
Pogba’s absence pushes us towards taking 19/20 for France to oblige and under 3.5 goals in the game.
Additional stats
Last World Cup qualifier result:
LUXEMBOURG 1-3 Netherlands – Maxime Chanot (pen)
FRANCE 2-1 Sweden – Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet
Head-to-head: Luxembourg 0-2 France, France 2-0 Luxembourg, France 6-0 Luxembourg, Luxembourg 0-4 France, Luxembourg 0-1 France
