France midfielder Paul Pogba. (Photo : Getty Images)
Tournament favorites France (0-0-1, 1 point) will look to redeem themselves from their lackluster performance during their opening game in the 2018 FIFA World Cup UEFA qualifying tournament as they face surprise team Bulgaria (1-0-0, 3 points) at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Friday, Oct. 7.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 8:45 p.m. UTC+2. It can be viewed live online thru FuboTV.
France, one of the higher-ranked teams in the competitions, was held to a goalless draw by lowly squad Belarus at the Borisov Arena in Barysaw on Sep. 6 to open their World Cup qualifying campaign, as per the Mirror.
It was a disappointing match for head coach Didier Deschamps and his boys as they are one of the teams to beat in the tourney together with Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Spain, and Wales.
Legendary team captain Hugo Lloris, the French team captain, was not available in the match and Steve Mandanda ably filled-in as he pulled off a clean sheet.
However, the offense was much less to be desired even with the presence of Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann, Anthony Martial, and Moussa Sissoko up front.
Lloris will return in this game against Bulgaria while Giroud is out with an injury. Griezmann is expected to take over the center-forward reins while Kevin Gameiro will fill-in the Atletico Madrid star's no. 10 position.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria nipped Luxembourg in a high-scoring 4-3 match at the Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia also on Sep. 6, via Soccerway.
The teams only had one goal in the first 60 minutes, courtesy of Bulgaria striker Dimitar Rangelov at the 16th minute, but had six goals combined in the last half hour of the contest.
Luxembourg forward Aurelien Joachim scored two quick goals at the 60th and 62nd to equalize and take over the lead. However, the Lions' Marcelinho and Ivelin Popov countered with a goal each at the 65th and 79th to give the lead back to the hosts.
Forward Florian Bohnert then leveled the count at 3-3 a minute into injury time for Die Roten Löwen, but midfielder Aleksandar Tonev scored the winner one minute later for head coach Petar Hubchev's side.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a 3-0 rout for France.
France starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Lloris; Digne, Varane, Koscielny, Kurzawa; Kanté, Pogba; Sissoko, Gameiro, Martial; Griezmann
Bulgaria starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Stoyanov; S. Popov, Chorbadzhiyski, Ivanov, Nedyalkov; Milanov, Dyakov, Marcelinho, Aleksandrov; Rangelov, I. Popov
