Uruguay vs France Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

It’s South American opposition for the third time in four matches for France but this is likely to be a very different test to the one presented by Argentina in the last sixteen. Uruguay are a much more disciplined, settled side than their neighbours but they also boast sufficient attacking talent to cause problems for this French team so it promises to be another really interesting contest.

Uruguay will certainly take confidence from having eliminated European champions Portugal in the last round. Two moments of quality from Edinson Cavani settled the tie and maintained La Celeste’s 100% record at this World Cup. The PSG striker is a doubt for this game which is a blow but Uruguay do have some decent attacking options in reserve with both Cristhian Stuani and Maxi Gomez fresh from excellent seasons in La Liga.

France will also of course have to try and stop Luis Suarez who was looking sharp in the last round and having conceded three goals against Argentina, there may just be a few more weaknesses in this French defence than we’d previously realised. Going forward though, the immense potential that exists in France truly burst into life in the last round as Les Bleus produced a fine Second Half display to clinch a thrilling 4-3 win.

It was a game when 19 year old Kylian Mbappé confirmed his potential to be one of the real stars of the world game with two goals and a brilliant all-round performance. He will be brimming with confidence heading into this one and pace may be the one thing that can expose a solid Uruguayan defence, so backing Mbappé to score anytime appeals with the forward looking to add to his tally of 3 goals at this tournament.

Whereas in the last round Uruguay would have known that stopping Cristiano Ronaldo would in all likelihood mean stopping Portugal, the same can’t be said of France. Antoine Griezmann is another who you sense could at some point put in a really big performance at this World Cup and the focus on Mbappe may just help him get a bit more space here. He will be up against his Atletico Madrid teammates Diego Godin and José Giménez in the Uruguay defence and that’s just one of many fascinating battles in this game.

France will certainly look to take the game to Uruguay and they have enough quality to cause even the very best defences problems. However as they showed in the last round, they are willing to take a chance and both teams have scored in 7 of their last 10 matches.

Uruguay have perhaps unfairly been dubbed a defensive side but they do average 1.75 goals per game at this World Cup and will fancy they can net again here, so backing Both Teams to Score looks like the value bet in what has the potential to be a pretty even game.

It would be no surprise to see this one go the distance and in a tournament of shock results, a Uruguayan victory over France would barely even register as one. Didier Deschamps still doesn’t fully convince in his role, and even though he’s now 6 years into the job and in a high-pressure situation, Uruguay’s extra experience may just be key. Overall there looks to be greater in value in backing Uruguay to qualify for the Semi-Finals with their central defensive and centre-forwards pairings as good as exists in the world game.

Uruguay Predicted Lineup: Muslera, Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Laxalt, Nandez, Torreira, Vecino, Bentancur, Arrascaeta, Suarez

France Predicted Lineup: Lloris, Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez, Pogba, Kante, Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe, Giroud