Portugal v France tips – Santos’ men might have the edge
Portugal flew under the radar to win Euro 2016 when triumphing at odds of 25/1 and they were also the outsiders before winning the inaugural Nations League although the bookies still seem to disregard them despite the obvious fact that Fernando Santos’ team are strong and could get even stronger when Euro 2020 comes around.
In the meantime, they are competing in the Nations League where they’ve also enjoyed plenty of success and Portugal line up against France at the Estadio da Luz on 14 November where we can expect two of the leading European nations to duke it out for what is essentially the deciding match of this group.
Portugal Top of Nations League Group 3
We’re always surprised how underrated the Portuguese happen to be, with Fernando Santos having steered a much lesser team to Euro 2016 glory four years ago and he now has an excellent squad of players who have not only helped the team win the inaugural Nations League but also means they are sitting top of Group 3 right now.
Portugal are the slight favourites to win this game and they’re certainly more than one player despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s excellent track record for his country, with Santos able to call upon the likes of Diogo Jota, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Joao Felix among others.
From a defensive point-of-view, the Portuguese are very sound and have only conceded one goal in their four matches played in the group thus far, with the team having scored nine goals and conceded just once, including a goalless draw against Les Bleus at the Stade de France.
Can France Break Down the Portuguese Defensive Wall?
This is another clash between the world champions and the European champions, with France having triumphed in the 2018 World Cup although that suddenly seems a long time ago considering that 2020 has been a COVID-19 affected situation which means that the Euros have been postponed.
Didier Deschamps remains at the helm for Les Bleus and there is plenty to like about a squad that looks broadly similar to the one who triumphed in Russia, although the manager does seem a little reliant on Kylian Mbappe to win matches right now, while there aren’t many promising players rising through the ranks.
They are regarded as the slight outsiders to win this game and found it hard to create chances against Portugal in the reverse fixture which ended goalless, with Kurt Zouma and Leo Dubois among the recent players to have broken into the international squad and remained there.
What Are the Best Bets For This Match?
It doesn’t seem plausible that we’ll see a high-scoring encounter between Portugal and France when the teams renew their rivalry, with low-scoring matches fast becoming a hallmark of this fixture and we should also note that the two teams will be meeting at the rearranged Euro 2020 next summer considering they’ve been drawn in the same group.
With this in mind, let’s keep things simple and bet on Under 2.5 Goals at 4/6 which might be a bit too short for some people and perhaps this can be either added to an accumulator or even embellished so that you can bet Under 1.5 Goals at 11/5.
If there is to be a winner, we just feel as though Portugal have the more in-form players and a 1-0 correct score in favour of Fernando Santos’ team can be backed at 13/2, with the home side potentially deriving some kind of advantage from playing this game in Lisbon despite the absence of supporters.
Alternatively, you can pay a visit to the Both Teams to Score betting market where you will find the “No” option trading at odds of 10/11 and that looks possibly the most exciting bet of all considering both managers are defensive-minded.