France vs Croatia 09/09/20

09 September 2020

France welcome Croatia to the Stade de France in the UEFA Nations League encounter, looking to maintain an unbeaten record in their H2Hs, including friendlies (W4, D2).

A narrow 1-0 away win over Sweden last time out now means four of France’s five Nations League fixtures have ended separating the sides by under 1.5 goals at a full-time (W3, D1, L1), with three of those results (wins/losses) seeing the winner on the day score precisely twice per game. ‘Les Bleus’ have been relentless at home since beating Croatia 4-2 in the World Cup final in 2018, winning all but one of their seven competitive matches (D1), four despite a -1 handicap. Notably, five of those six victories have seen the hosts find the net in both halves! Didier Deschamps’ men now take the field after suffering just one loss from their last 11 competitive outings (W9, D1, L1), being ahead at HT in seven of those nine successes.

The visitors, on the other hand, sustained a horror 4-1 away loss to Portugal in their group opener, which means nine of their last 11 competitive fixtures have produced over 2.5 goals (W6, D2, L3). Interestingly, seven of those nine results have seen the winner on the day concede at least once, with four yielding the identical 2-1 scoreline. But, the World Cup runners-up lament a disappointing record in the Nations League (W1, D1, L3), conceding an average of 2.8 goals across those matches. Particularly vulnerable after the half-time break, the Blazers have shipped at least one goal on or beyond the 70-minute mark in four of those five fixtures.