Portugal v France betting tips: Thriller on cards in Budapest
Published:
France and Portugal meet in a rematch of the Euro 2016 final as Group F heads for a dramatic climax.
World champions France currently top the table despite failing to beat Hungary on Saturday and qualified for the last 16 on Monday night.
The situation is more complicated for the defending champions, who need a win that they are 5/2 underdogs to get in order to guarantee a top-two spot and here we look at some of the other markets in our Portugal v France betting tips.
Match Odds
France dominated Germany but some slack finishing proved costly against Hungary, who exposed Les Bleus’ defensive weakness when Attila Fiola opened the scoring.
France had won 21 of their last 26 games before that and are 6/5 to return to winning ways and gain revenge for their 2016 final defeat.
A draw would not guarantee Portugal’s progress but would likely see both sides through, and is priced at 15/8.
Portugal have never failed to progress from their group in seven previous European Championship appearances and had kept three successive clean sheets before shipping four goals in a 4-2 defeat to Germany.
Despite Cristiano Ronaldo opening the scoring, Fernando Santos’ side soon found themselves outclassed and it is 19/5 for France to win and both teams to score.
Finally, in what could be a fiery encounter given the recent history between the two sides, there is a #GetAPrice of 8/15 for there to be over 2.5 bookings in the match and N’golo Kante to win one or more tackles.
Talking Tactics
The returning Karim Benzema has been flanked by Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann but the Real Madrid striker has been less effective than the players either side of him and could make way for the ever-reliable Olivier Giroud.
However, one player no longer available to Deschamps is Ousmane Dembele who will miss the rest of the tournament with a knee injury.
Deschamps also faces a tough decision at full-back, with Benjamin Pavard – who was at fault for Hungary’s goal – on a yellow card and Lucas Digne vying for the left-back spot with Lucas Hernandez.
Portugal feature a host of names familiar to Premier League fans in their 4-5-1 formation, with Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota supporting star man Cristiano Ronaldo, the European Championship’s greatest ever scorer.
Goalscorer Odds
Ronaldo has scored three goals in two games but remarkably has never scored in his six previous appearances against France.
Benzema, who has not scored at international level since 2015 after a lengthy absence, is 9/2 to score first or 5/2 to net at any time.
Match Info
Where: Puskas Arena, Budapest
When: 20:00, Wednesday 23rd June
How to watch: BBC 1
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
