Luxembourg vs France Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

The tiny nation of Luxembourg aren’t exactly known for their footballing prowess. They finished second from bottom in their Euro 2016 qualifying group with four points from a possible 30, conceding an average of 2.7 goals per game in the process. Things haven’t improved for them since then either.

Their last outing was a 3-1 defeat at home to Holland, following on from a decent 1-1 draw in Belarus, to make it one point from their first four games and leaving them rock bottom of the qualifying group.

Luxembourg’s most recent defeat extends their winless streak to nine matches, with eight of those ending in defeat. Looking back over a longer spell they have won just two of their last 29 games and have lost 22 of them.

Now they come up against one of the most talented sides in the world. The extent of France’s talent is shown by the fact you could make up a formidable side from the players who have been left out of this squad. The likes of Karim Benzema and Alexandre Lacazette have been overlooked again, as has Hatem Ben Arfa. Instead they call upon star players such as Olivier Giroud, N’Golo Kante, Dimitri Payet, Antoine Griezmann, and the uncapped Kylian Mbappe.

France will still be hurting from their extra time defeat to Portugal in the summer which saw them miss out on lifting the European Championships on home soil, but they have bounced back rather well from that disappointment. They have beaten Italy, Bulgaria, Holland, and Sweden since then, although they have also played out goalless draws against Belarus and Ivory Coast.

Luxembourg tend to stick together defensively at home – Until they fall apart that is!! They generally start to tire in the second half of games, and that opens the floodgates for the opposition. 11 of the last 14 goals they have conceded at home have come in the second half, so I think odds of 10/11 for Highest Scoring Half – 2nd are good value, so I’m going for that alongside a 3-0 win for the visitors at 9/2.