France looks to continue their pursuit of avoiding the drop to League B when they make the trip to Copenhagen to face Denmark in the Nations League.
The Danes lost their perch of first place in the group with a 2-1 loss to Croatia in the last game when subsequently France registered a comfortable 2-0 win over Austria to move into the third standings.
DEN vs FRA Match Details
Date: Sunday, 25 September 2022 / Monday, 26 September 2022
Time: 20:45 (CET) / 00:15 (IST)
Venue: Parken Stadium, Copenhagen
DEN vs FRA Match Preview
Denmark thought they have nicked an unlikely point against Croatia in Zagreb when Christian Eriksen scored a pitch of goal from outside the box to cancel out Borna Sosa’s cool finish in the first half only for substitute Lovro Majer to score the winner with a splendid strike nine minutes after the leveler. With a win, Kasper Hjulmand’s side would have qualified for the finals of the Nations League held next year. Instead, they had to defeat France in the next game to stay in the race and wish bottom-placed Austria do them a favor against now leaders Croatia in the subsequent game. A draw versus the Les Bleus won’t be enough as the Croats lead the way in the head-to-head stat by winning the other fixture also in June. Denmark’s worry for the game will be lack of creating clear-cut chances and almost wholly dominated by the finalists of the 2018 World Cup. Also, the defense could have done better with the goals they conceded in the game having a leader like Simon Kjaer back from his injury. Denmark will take note of their previous performance in June when they ended France’s unbeaten home record in stunning fashion by a second-half brace from Andreas Cornelius trailing for an hour after Karim Benzema have given the French the lead. Any significant result on Sunday night will give them a surge of confidence at least if not a place in the finals of the Nations League before taking on the World Cup holders again in Qatar. Denmark will also face Tunisia and Australia on either side of that fixture in Group D, facing Les Bleus in the group stages of consecutive editions too. That game in 2018 World Cup ended 0-0 meant the Danes are unbeaten in the last two games against Didier Deschamp’s men having lost the three prior. The Reds and Whites will wish to carry the record having won the joint-most games in the group with three compared to France’s first in their last game.
The 2-0 win over Austria may sound like a routine job for France on any other day but the win collected on Friday was a necessary one to overturn a poor start to this Nations League campaign. Les Bleus failed to win any games in the first set of fixtures back in June declining their chance to defend the trophy won only last year. Further, France were in a real threat to go down to League B and while the situation still remains, the victory over Ralf Rangnick’s side has mathematically put them to safety. Any discontentment will happen if Didier Deswchamp’s men slump to another defeat in this tournament and Austria does the double against Croatia in the other game. Indeed, the reaction shown in the last game showed France will treat their underwhelming results in June simply as a hoax as they have their guns blazing this month. In the absence of the injured Karim Benzema, the team found the old chemistry back with Olivier Giroud upfront with the AC Milan star now only two goals behind to match Thierry Henry’s all-time scoring record for his country with 53 goals and himself is now the oldest goal-scorer in history for Les Bleus. Kylian Mbappe lit up combining in the known deadly fashion with the former Arsenal striker and Antoine Griezmann dictated the play operating just behind the two forwards. Although France could only break the deadlock from an Austrian mistake in the second half leading the PSG star to score a remarkable goal, the home team dominated every part of the game. Despite losing their game against Croatia, Denmark will certainly not make it easy for the visitors on the evening a fact very much known by Didier Deschamps willing to clinch another win not only to secure their survival in the group but also an early statement of the challenge they will pose to the Danes when they meet again in the World Cup. France are more than confident in doing so staying unbeaten in away games in all competition since 2019.
Recent Form
DEN: LWLWW
FRA: WLDDL
DEN vs FRA Team News
Denmark were able to include Jesper Lindstorm back in the match day squad after he missed the defeat to Croatia with an injury. Rasmus Kristensen also shakes off a knock to feature as a substitute in the second half of the game and he is now a prime candidate to start against France ahead of Daniel Wass. Left winger Mikel Damsgaard could also begin this crucial game with Kasper Dolberg replacing Martin Braithwaite to lead the line for the Danes.
Mike Maignan and Jules Kounde went out injured in the last game with both ineligible to play any further part in this international break. The Milan keeper was replaced at half-time by Alphonso Areola because of a calf injury while Jules Kounde was unable to carry on after 23 minutes due to a hamstring injury which will keep him out for weeks now. Benoit Badiashile and Youssouf Fofana were hugely impressive in their debut in national colors with the pair set to retain their spot in the team as Didier Deschamps is unlikely to make any changes to his winning combination other than those injuries.
DEN vs FRA Predicted Lineups
DEN: Kasper Schmeichel; Joachim Andersen, Kjaer, Andreas Christensen; Rasmus Kristensen, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Thomas Delaney, Joakim Maehle; Christian Eriksen, Kasper Dolberg, Mikel Damsgaard
FRA: Alphonso Areola; William Saliba, Raphael Varane, Benoit Badiashile; Jonathan Clauss, Youssouf Fofana, Aurelien Tchouameni, Ferland Mendy; Antoine Griezmann; Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud
DEN vs FRA Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Areola (7.5)
DEF: Andersen (8), Saliba (8.5), Varane (9), Maehle (8.5)
MID: Hojbjerg (8.5), Tchouameni (9), Eriksen (9)
FW: Griezmann (8), Giroud (7.5), Mbappe (9)
Captain: Kylian Mbappe
Vice-captain: Olivier Giroud
