Prediction: France vs Peru

Verdict: Both teams to score – yes

Best Odds: 21/20

Bookmaker: 888sport

France and Peru will battle at Central Stadium (Yekaterinburg) for a tightly-contested affair in Group C. While French side kicked off their WC campaign with a solid 2-1 win over Australia, Peru couldn’t live up to previous expectations and lost to Denmark (0-1) despite dominating much of the contest. These two teams will meet on Thursday with a clear goal in mind: Peru will try to clinch their first points in the competition, while France will aim to take another step towards the Round of 16.

France

Things were not easy for France in their debut against Australia, as they had to work harder than expected to gain the three points. A penalty kick from Antoine Griezmann and an own goal from Aziz Behich were enough to lift Les Bleus to a win, but the team’s overall performance left a lot to be desired. After all, Didier Deschamps’ men are one of the top contenders for the World Cup title, and they should have been better against an inferior side such as The Socceroos. Playing against Peru will be a harder things – especially considering how good the CONMEBOL side looked against Denmark – but France should be considered a favourite either way. They have an extremely talented team, a few decisive players on the attacking end – such as Griezmann and Paul Pogba – and far more experience on the attacking end. That should be enough to give France a nod on this one… at least on paper.

Team News

France are at full strength ahead of this game.

The one doubt is the one of Djibril Sidibe (knee), who was left out of the opener against Australia as a precaution.

Peru

Peru lost the tournament opener against Denmark, but their performance was quite decent. Los Incas did not take advantage of the chances they created and Christian Cueva even lost a penalty in the final minutes of the first half; that should only make them feel worst since Denmark capitalised on their only clear scoring opportunity. But Ricardo Gareca should not feel bad for the way the team handled the pressure of being back in the World Cup for the first time since 1982. But the team needs to earn something in this game, because another loss could eliminate them if Denmark win their respective game against Australia. With that in mind, Peru need to do what they used to do before the start of the World Cup since they went as far as riding a 15-game undefeated streak. The quality is there, the talent is there, and the nervous of playing the first game should be in the past now. Will they manage to come through and pull the upset against France?

Team News

Paolo Guerrero (choice) is doubtful for this game. He changed the team’s strategy (for good) against Denmark as soon as he entered the game.

The rest of the team should not have problems to feature here. The only change would be Guerrero over Jefferson Farfan.

Key Factors to Consider

• France are undefeated in their last 5 matches. Les Bleus are also riding a three-game winning streak in all competitions.
• The French are unbeaten in their last seven WC fixtures against South American sides (W4, D3). They have kept a clean sheet in five of them.
• Peru, on the other hand, might have lost the last time out. However, that shouldn’t take anything away from what they have done of late. Peru have lost just one of their last 16 matches (W10, D5, L1).
• Meanwhile, the Peruvians are on a run of seven matches without a single win (D2, L5) in the World Cup context.
• This will be the second meeting between these two sides. Their lone previous match ended with a 1-0 win for France back in 1982.

Conclusion

This should be a very open game. France need to win, and Peru need to get something out of this game as well. As a result, it would not be crazy to imagine both sides scoring at least once in this one.

Verdict: Both teams to score – yes

Best Odds: 21/20

Bookmaker: 888sport