France v Holland 2018 World Cup Qualifying Betting Tips August 31st 2017
Posted by: Mitko Atanasov in Aug, 2017
Tip #1: Back France to win @ 1.75 with bet365.com
Tip #2: Back Under 2.5 Goals @ 1.75 with bet365.com
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France v Holland 2018 World Cup Qualifying Betting Tips: Match Preview
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France
France are locked in a battle with Sweden to hold first place in group A of Europe’s 2018 World Cup qualifying stage. At present, the two nations are level on 13 points, but Sweden have an edge courtesy of being two goals ahead on goal-difference.
Although Les Bleus have won four from six games, competition is tense in fighting for first place and automatic qualification. It’s true that a September 2016 draw with Belarus (0-0) was wasteful, but France hurt their chances even more by losing 2-1 away to Sweden in June 2017.
The French have quality throughout their squad, including household names like Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann. Meanwhile, there are also emerging stars in the shape of Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, and Thomas Lemar.
Realistically, France have the fire power needed to win the group, considering that the remaining nations include Bulgaria and Luxembourg. A return of 11 goals from six games just isn’t good enough, while five goals conceded could have been improved upon.
France defeated Holland 1-0 when playing away in October 2016, but they should seize this opportunity to convincingly defeat a national squad that’s much weaker than previous generations.
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Netherlands
Collectively, the French national team could likely be sold for more than €1 billion. Paul Pogba is the French star in midfield and went for close to €100 million, whereas influential Netherlands midfielder Davy Klaassen went to Everton for approximately €25 million.
The current Netherlands squad has useful players like defenders Daley Blind and Stefan de Vrij, midfielders Kevin Strootman and Georginio Wijnaldum, and ageing forwards Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie. However, most of those names lack the star quality needed to strike fear into French hearts.
The lack of quality proved fateful for former head coaches Guus Hiddink and Danny Blind, respectively. Both were in charge following Louis van Gaal, who achieved a third-place finish at the 2014 World Cup, but oversaw calamitous results in recent years.
Eventually, this led to Dick Advocaat taking over from Blind and attempting to restore pride in the midst of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. Advocaat previously managed the Dutch national side in the 1990s, but he came back with a bang when the team beat lowly Luxembourg 5-0 in his first game in charge.
Unfortunately, Luxembourg are renowned whipping boys when it comes to European international football. Holland were expected to deliver convincingly, so it will be much tougher to replicate that standard of performance against the French.
Verdict
France are enjoying the emergence of a golden generation that can complement pre-existing talents in the national team. Head coach Didier Deschamps has now been in charge since 2012 and is being given the control needed to try and build a solid national team.
The French famously fell short to Portugal in a 1-0 defeat during the Euro 2016 final, but they do have the quality needed to win at home against the Netherlands in this qualifier.
Tip #1: Back France to win @ 1.75 with bet365.com
Tip #2: Back Under 2.5 Goals @ 1.75 with bet365.com
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