Holland-France, a thrilling duel for first place is staged in Group D. Deschamps with Mbappé-related doubt.
In the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, one of the most eagerly awaited matches of the group stage of Euro 2024, that between the Netherlands and France, is staged. A duel for the top spot in Group D after both won the first match, beating Poland and Austria by a narrow margin respectively in the opener and mortgaging their passage to the knockout stage.
Both for Didier Deschamps’ and Ronald Koeman’s teams, however, were not “easy” debuts, so to speak. Les Bleus needed an own goal to unlock the challenge with the stout Austrians. They failed to double several times in the second half, even losing their captain Mbappé to a fractured nose. The future Real Madrid striker may therefore not take the field until the eventual round of 16 and will do so wearing a protective mask: difficult, almost impossible, for him to be used as early as the Leipzig match. Instead, the Netherlands got the better of Poland, overturned thanks to goals from Gakpo and Weghorst. The Hoffenheim slinger, who entered in the second half in place of Depay, solved a match that seemed bewitched for the Oranje, stopped until then by a suber Szczesny. Holland and France face each other again a few months apart: in the German European Championship qualifiers, van Dijk and his teammates failed to avoid defeat in either the first leg or the return against the transalpine battleship.
Holland-France, Deschamps bets on Thuram
To make up for the absence of Mbappé – who will be on the bench anyway – Deschamps is expected to change form and switch to 4-3-2-1, with Dembéle and Griezmann behind Thuram.
The Inter striker will start again from 1′ but in a different position than in the match with Austria, in which he played basically as a high outside left back. This time he will have to play as a central striker in place of the injured Giroud and it cannot be ruled out that he will be able to find the way to goal. As for shots on goal, a token on each side we would spend on Dembélé and Griezmann, who without Mbappé will take some more responsibility. The Netherlands will try to be more concrete but the names on which Koeman will focus are always the same: Depay has looked very inspired to us and should make at least one shot towards Maignan’s goal; Gakpo is looking for confirmation after his goal against Poland and the little jewel Xavi Simons with his quality could create headaches for the French rearguard. Finally, we expect at least one conclusion toward the goal from defenders who have “license to attack” such as Dumfries, Aké (dangerous header) and Theo Hernandez. The tense stories between the interista and the milanista could “affect” this match as well: we assume a yellow card for both.
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Thuram scorer Plus is listed at 3.25 on Goldbet and Lottomatica and 3.75 on Snai. Theo Hernandez cautioned Plus instead is quoted at 3.20 on Goldbet and Lottomatica and 3.00 on Snai.
