France v Switzerland betting tips: Les Bleus ready to improve
Preview and odds for the round-of-16 match
The world champions may feel their round-of-16 game is easier than their group matches as we pick out some France v Switzerland betting tips.
Les Bleus came through the ‘group of death’ as winners at the expense of Germany, Portugal and Hungary and will now expect to ease past Switzerland.
Monday’s match is live on ITV and kicks off at 8pm at the Arena Nationala in Bucharest.
France v Switzerland match odds
France start the knockout stage as favourites in the Euro 2020 winner odds and it would be a surprise if they came unstuck here, with Switzerland 3/1 to go through and 6/1 for victory in 90 minutes.
France are 4/7 to win in normal time but have only won one game at the Euros so far, with their 1-0 victory over Germany followed by a 1-1 stalemate with Hungary and 2-2 draw with Portugal which was enough to top the group.
Karim Benzema’s double cancelled out a brace of Cristiano Ronaldo penalties but France were far from their best with Kylian Mbappe still to get off the mark and Everton defender Lucas Digne set to join Ousmane Dembele in being ruled out of the rest of the tournament due to injury.
Coach Didier Deschamps said: “Maybe other teams gave a better impression than the French team but now it is a new competition that starts.
“The first match against Germany was really important for us and to win this one point against Hungary allowed us even before this match to be qualified but as I said to the players we don’t want to do any calculations because we don’t want to take any risks.
“We have seen everything could change very quickly in this group. Of course we didn’t do everything well all the time and we can improve some things.”
Scoring four goals in three games is underwhelming given the attacking talent in the squad and a France win with under 2.5 goals is available at 21/10.
Switzerland stepped up a gear when it mattered as two goals from Xherdan Shaqiri helped them beat Turkey 3-1 in Baku and four points proved enough to qualify as one of the best third-placed teams.
The Swiss, beaten 3-0 by Italy after drawing 1-1 with Wales in their opening match, had needed to win to stand any chance of progression but have only lost once in their last 10 matches.
Draws with Germany (3-3) and Spain (1-1) in the Nations League last year show they are capable of troubling the top teams and the match is 29/10 to go to extra time while both teams to score is an option for France v Switzerland betting tips at 6/5.
France v Switzerland head-to-head
France should not be complacent ahead of facing Switzerland at a second successive European Championship.
These two teams were in the same group at Euro 2016 and played out a goalless draw in the final round of matches – a result which sent Switzerland through to the last 16 and ensured France finished top of Group A.
France had the better chances though and hit the woodwork three times, although the Swiss could have been awarded a penalty in stoppage time.
The teams also shared a goalless draw at the World Cup in 2006 but it was very different at the World Cup in 2014 when France were 5-2 winners after racing into a 3-0 half-time lead.
Previous XI
France: Lloris, Kimpembe, Varane, Hernandez, Kounde, Pogba, Tolisso, Kante, Griezmann, Mbappe, Benzema.
Switzerland: Sommer, Widmer, Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez, Freuler, Xhaka, Zuber, Shaqiri, Embolo, Seferovic.
Key battles
Shaqiri seems to come alive at major tournaments and looks fully fit despite his injury problems at Liverpool.
The Switzerland forward may need to produce a moment of magic if they are to cause an upset and is 6/1 to find the net or 12/1 to open the scoring.
Granit Xhaka and N’Golo Kante will do battle in midfield while France’s front three will hope to step up a gear.
For punters looking for a big price in the France v Switzerland betting tips, 100/1 is available for Benzema to assist Mbappe and vice-versa.
View the latest Euro 2020 odds
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
