France are still in first place in Group A to qualify for the World Cup in Russia in 2018, but a couple poor results should be a concern. They’ll be away on Saturday as they head to Bulgaria, who sit in fourth place, just five points behind the French going into the final round of qualifying games.
What To Know About France
France continue to frustrate as they looked great in a 4-0 romp of the Netherlands, and then they drew 0-0 at home to Luxembourg in the next game. Now, they have a few issue as Paul Pogba and Laurent Koscielny are the highest-profile players to be injured, and Antoine Griezmann is struggling at Atletico Madrid. Kyliam Mbappe has been great for Paris Saint-Germain, but he is still only 18 years old and to carry the hopes of a country on his back. France has the talent to run away with this group, but here they are, either in a position to win the group and miss out altogether. Missing out altogether would be a crisis for the French national team.
What To Know About Bulgaria
Bulgaria won 3-2 at home over Sweden, and then lost 3-1 at the Netherlands to put themselves in position to give themselves a chance and that is all they can ask for. Being at home makes Bulgaria very dangerous as they have won all four of their games at home with 10 goals for and only five against; but away from home, the Bulgarians have lost all four games and have scored just three goals while allowing 12. Georgi Kostadinov has scored three goals in World Cup qualifying, while Ivelin Popov has scored two with four assists. This is a confident team, especially at home, and they can really shake things up with a win over the French, who are extremely vulnerable right now.
Outlook
France is favored at -120 on the road for this massive World Cup qualifying match, while Bulgaria comes in at +1350 and a draw is rated at +650. France has played Bulgaria 21 times, winning nine and drawing four times, but that also means that Bulgaria has won eight games. The two met in October 2016 in France as the home side rolled to a 4-1 win thanks to two goals from Kevin Gameiro and singles from Griezmann and Dmitri Payet, neither of whom are lighting the world on fire right now, and Gameiro wasn’t even called up for these two matches. The French still have the talent that they should win this game handily, but you have to wonder how confident they are in themselves, and then how ё Bulgaria are in themselves. N’Golo Kante has to dominate the midfield to help France keep possession and when Bulgaria has a chance to score, they have to cash in. This game wasn’t thought to be important earlier in qualifying, but on Saturday, one team is going to have a world of trouble on their hands and it really could be the French.
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