France Vs Spain

Tonight’s 3^rd quarter final pits the defending champions, Spain against France. Spain have looked below their best in the tournament so far, so can France step up to the plate and cause a huge upset, or will Spain show once again why they are the best in the world. Let’s have a look at a few stats.

France’s record in the tournament so far reads P3W1D1L1. They have scored 3 goals (1gpg) and conceded 3 goals (1gpg). They have kept only 1 clean sheet and have failed to score in 1 of the 3 matches. If we look further back at their qualifying campaign it reads P10W6D3L1. They have scored 15 goals (1.5gpg) and conceded 4 goals (0.4gpg). They have kept 6/10 clean sheets and have failed to score in 2/10 matches. Their qualifying group consisted of Bosnia, Romania, Belarus, Albania and Luxembourg; not exactly quality teams when compared to Spain.

Spain’s record in the tournament so far reads P3W2D1L0. They have scored 6 goals (2gpg) and conceded 1 goal (0.33gpg). They have kept 2 clean sheets and have failed to score in 0 of the 3 matches. If we look further back at their qualifying campaign it reads P8W8D0L0. They have scored 26 goals (3.25gpg) and conceded 6 goals (0.75gpg). They have kept 3/8 clean sheets and have failed to score in 0/8 matches. Their qualifying group consisted of the Czech Rep, Scotland, Lithuania and Liechtenstein; again not exactly quality teams to test them.

Looking at the H2H’s, they have played each other 8 times, 1 in the World Cup, 3 in the European Championship’s and 4 Friendlies. France have won 4 and Spain have won 3 and there has been 1 draw. Spain have won the last two matches. However, Spain have never beaten France in a World Cup or Euro match, France have won 3 and the other match was a draw. 3 of the 8 matches have been over 2.5 goals, but the last 2 have been under 2.5 goals.

I know France were poor against Sweden, but I think they had their mind on the Quarter Final, they just didn’t turn up. Tonight I think they will be up for the match and I think they have a great chance of causing an upset. This will not be an open game, as if you play open against Spain, you are asking for trouble. France will close Spain down and try and frustrate them. Spain will play their usual game and keep the ball. Both teams don’t have great defences, so I can see both teams scoring, but I think France might edge it 2-1. I might look to lay over 2.5 goals from the start, as hopefully the match will start tight and edgy. Spain are odds on to win, but I am not convinced, so not sure about laying the draw. I will not lay the draw from the start, I might look to lay the draw if 0-0 at HT, depending on how the game is going.

Well that was a very poor match, Spain looked comfortably and France did not even turn up. Managed to get a few ticks laying over 2.5 goals for the 1st 15 mins, but did not lay the draw from the start, so missed the opportunity.