International friendly - preview and odds: England vs. France

Published on: 16/11/2015

International friendly - preview and odds: England vs. France

November 17, 2015 20:00pm - Wembley Stadium

International friendly

England will host France in what will be an emotional night at Wembley on Tuesday following a unanimous decision by all involved to go ahead with the game, despite Fridays terror attacks in Paris.

A friendly show of support

What was originally meant to be friendly game against two teams preparing for next summers European Championships has now taken on added meaning in light of Fridays events.

Perhaps the word friendly has never been more appropriate as football fans, players and authorities alike prepare to stand side-by-side in a show of solidarity and support for France.

The decision to play the game has been wholly welcomed by those involved with the French players voting unanimously to travel to London for the game.

England were playing in Alicante on Friday night where they fell by two goals to nil to the Spanish national team. It was an uninspiring performance by Roy Hodgsons men marked by poor touches, slack passing and woeful finishing. In contrast, a below par Spanish side had an easy night and were able to stroll to a win thanks to two superb finishes.

France go into this game on the back of a 2-0 victory over World Champions Germany at the Stade de France on Friday night. The win came courtesy of goals from Olivier Giroud and Andre-Pierre Gignac.

Team news

Roy Hodgson has handed a surprise call up to Manchester Uniteds Jesse Lingard despite the fact that the winger has only made eight senior team appearances for the Red Devils. He has been brought in to replace teammate Michael Carrick who damaged his ankle in the game against Spain.

Lassana Diarra is expected to feature for France despite losing his cousin in the terror attacks on Friday. The Marseille midfielder was on the field of play when the tragedy struck, along with Atletico Madrids Antoine Griezmann whose sister escaped the attack on the Bataclan concert venue.

Recent form (all comps)

England: LWWWW

France: WWWWW

Betting odds and tips

In what could be an emotionally-charged night at Wembley, both coaches will still be focussed on their Euro 2016 preparations. France have not played a competitive game since the World Cup in Brazil, but since then they have lost just three matches in a total of 15 friendlies. Two of those defeats (Albania, Belgium) came in the off-season and the other came at the hands of Brazil. Since the friendly defeat away to European Championship debutants Albania back in June, France have won five games in a row including wins over Germany, Portugal and Serbia.

England have had plenty of competitive action since their disastrous World Cup campaign but have not been pitted against any teams of real quality. In friendly competition, they held Italy to a 1-1 draw back in March and lost to Spain last week. They may have home advantage, but this game is all set up for a France win. You can back the visitors to prevail at 2/1 with various bookmakers including Unibet and 888sport.

Published on: 16/11/2015

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (16/11/2015 11:47:19) but are subject to change.