France U23 vs South Africa U23 Predictions

• France lost 4-1 to Mexico in their opener.
• South Africa managed to keep hosts Japan at bay for 70 minutes.

Disjointed France could struggle against solid South Africa

France were thrashed 4-1 by a slick Mexico side in their Olympics opener and may not have it all their own way against South Africa in their second Group A assignment on Sunday.

South Africa were dealt a huge blow just days before the tournament began as two players tested positive for coronavirus.  Despite that setback, David Notoane’s men gave a good account of themselves in a 1-0 defeat to hosts Japan and showed real resilience in defence before their back line was finally breached with 20 minutes remaining.

The Amaglug-glug are the huge underdogs for this clash but they are coming up against what looks a poor French team and we think they can avoid a humiliation, at the very least.  South Africa are odds against with a +2 handicap and after their solid defensive work against a good Japan side we feel they can keep this incarnation of Les Bleus fairly quiet and potentially even get a resault.

France were hit with late withdrawals and played just one warm-up fixture prior to the tournament, as such they looked like a team cobbled together during their loss to Mexico and we’re not expecting any huge strides forward in their second Olympics outing.  In veteran striker Andre-Pierre Gignac they do carry a goal threat and he opened his account from the spot against Mexico, but we’re still expecting a close battle in this fixture.  

South Africa didn’t really threaten Japan but they may be able to carve out a few more opportunities against a disjointed France side and we feel a 1-1 draw has a chance in the correct score market.