UEFA European Championship Prediction - France VS Ireland

UEFA European Championship - France VS Ireland
Match Time: 08-09-2023 02:45 Friday (GMT+8)
Football Livescore | Match Prediction & Tips
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France top Group B with 12 points as they have won all four of their qualifiers. Didier Deschamps’ men have dominated, scoring nine goals, and are yet to concede. They have a healthy six-point cushion at the top and will boost immensely their chances of qualifying if they win on Thursday. Les Bleus have been in good form for the last year and are well over their Nations League disappointment. They have won 10 of their last 13 matches with this run seeing them make it to back-to-back World Cup finals. France have won 10 of the 19 meetings with Ireland with two of those coming in Euro qualifying. The hosts defeated Greece 1-0 at home in their last match.

France (predicted lineup): Mike Maignan, Jules Kounde, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez, Adrien Rabiot, Eduardo Camavinga, Kingsley Coman, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud.

The Republic of Ireland have struggled to get going in Group B. They have played three matches and have won once while losing twice. Ireland trail Greece, who occupy the final qualifying spot, by three points. Stephen Kenny’s men arrive for this match after a morale-boosting 3-0 win at home against Gibraltar to get their qualifying journey on track. The win ended a seven-match run without a win that had seen the Boys in Green lose four times. Ireland haven’t won against France since a 3-2 success at home in World Cup qualifying 42 years ago. Failure to win here will significantly drop their chances of qualifying for Germany.

Ireland (predicted lineup): Gavin Bazunu, Dara O'Shea, John Egan, Nathan Collins, Festy Ebosele, Josh Cullen, Jayson Molumby, Alan Browne, Ryan Manning, Chiedozie Ogbene, Adam Idah.

France vs Republic of Ireland Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
Since suffering a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Croatia in the UEFA Nations League in June 2022, France have picked up three successive wins on home soil without shipping in a goal.
France are unbeaten in their last eight meetings with Republic of Ireland in all competitions.
Republic of Ireland have won six, lost six and drawn two of their last 14 matches across all competitions.
Republic of Ireland haven't qualified for a major competition since Euro 2016. They made it as far as the Round of 16 of Euro 2016 where they fell to a 2-1 loss to France.
Republic of Ireland have not scored more than one goal in any of their last eight meetings with France in all competitions.

France vs Republic of Ireland Prediction
Republic of Ireland will be without young and in-form striker Evan Ferguson during this international break. The Brighton & Hove Albion centre-forward picked up a knee injury after scoring a hat-trick in the Seagulls' latest outing against Newcastle United on September 2.
Republic of Ireland managed to contain France for the greater part of their 1-0 loss in the reverse fixture (March 27). They will find it hard to repeat the same on Thursday against Deschamps' men, who have done well on home territory in recent times.
France are expected to execute an impressive attacking display and win this one without much hassle.

Prediction: France 3-0 Republic of Ireland