France vs Romania - Preview

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- Latest events

FRANCE

·         The hosts played two friendlies and confirmed all the work they’ve been doing since the World Cup in Brazil finished. With their starting XI determined, with the help of Varane and Mathieu’s injuries, France is ready to start the competition.

·         With two wins and six goals scored, in the friendlies, France confirmed that they are an offensive powerhouse. Against Cameroon, however, the lack of chemistry between Rami and Koscielny was exposed, and Scotland wasn’t enough of threat to shut the concerns down.   

·         It’s essential for Deschamps’ team to start strong and with a win against Romania, to assume their position as strongest team of the group

ROMANIA

·         Three games, a lot of experiences and one confirmation: Nicolae Stanciu scored in every game and shown he’s ready to shine in a big stage.

·         Romania showed their strengths in the friendlies, with the exception of the unbelievable twenty minutes they had in the beginning of the 2nd half against Ukraine, with the bad display from Chiriçes being particularly worrying. A situation that is mandatory to avoid repeating, at the risk of collapsing.

·         Offensively, Stanciu is showing his quality, bringing to the table mobility and an above-average intelligence that makes Romania’s team a bit more dangerous than before.  

- Expected Lineups

 

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- Areas to follow

FRANCE

·         Defense

 The game against Scotland was great to give some confidence back to Rami and Koscielny. The opponents did do much danger, but they worked better in compensating each other and looked much more connected. Romania’s game will be fairly similar, so this is the game to remember.

 The full backs, Evra e Sagna, will be almost playing as defensive wingers, not only because Romania won’t be attacking that often, and their wingers usually like to play inside, moving away from the experienced French players areas of action.

·         Midfield

 They bring their country in their shoulders. The untiring Matuidi and N’Golo Kanté will be everywhere, nagging opponents, taking the ball away from them and carrying it clean to Pogba or their advanced teammates. The Juventus’ star is the playmaker of the team, has been phenomenal in Italy and will want to lead is country to glory.

·         Attack

 Griezmann wasn’t a feature in the friendly games, due to his involvement in the Champions League final, but he should relegate Kingsley Coman to the bench, with the youngster waiting for his opportunity.

 Atletico Madrid’s forward and Dimitri Payet will be cutting inside constantly, looking to be in the end of a Pogba wonder, or to create danger by themselves. Giroud showed is well, with two goals against Scotland, and has to ride the wave, as he’s tendency to a drought of goals has to be avoided.

             

ROMANIA

•          Defense
  
  The best defense of the qualification stage had a horrendous day against Ukraine, with captain Vlad Chiriçes being the main focus of debate. To have any hope in the opening game of the Euro, Romania will have to improve a lot, but Iordanescu should keep his trust in his backline.

•          Midfield
  
   Hoban e Pintilli will have a herculean task, as they will face Pogba and both France’s winger, as will be in their area most of the time. Stanciu will have to commit defensively, and try to avoid the two bulldogs Deschamps will release on the pitch
   The defensive midfielders will have to be very quick with the ball in their feet, as France’s pressure will be asphyxiating.  

•          Attack
  
   Stancu e Popa should be the wingers for the game, and their task will be mostly defensive, with special attention to Sagna and Evra, respectively. Going forward, they’ll have to make the best of the space left by the French full backs, to be dangerous with the few chances they’ll have.  Andone has been scoring goals, but this will be a very hard game for him, mostly alone and fighting against 3 or 4 opponents

- FIL’S VERDICT

 What will be the key to unlock this game will be if and when will France score the first goal. Until that happens, the game will be characterized by France dominating possession, trying to find any open space, forcing the opponent’s mistakes. The host’s will try to score as quickly as possible, and Romania will try to avoid that the longest they can, but it’s very likely that France will score.   

 For Romania to dream to get something from this game, it’s predictable that they’ll need a goal. Something that with quick counters, and Stanciu’s exceptional form, it’s doable. With Evra and Sagna mostly focusing in attacking movements, the Romanians can find breaches in France’s defense and if they do, they have to be lethal against Lloris.

 Being hosts, and with Romania knowing that they still have two games to play and their difficulty is much more to their skill, France should be able to collect a win, with a 2/3 goal-margin. The Tricolorii will have their goal-difference in mind, never exposing themselves to much to avoid a thrashing.  

FIL’S PREDICTION

FRANCE 2-0 ROMANIA