France kick off their bid to become World and European Champion for a second time as they meet Germany at Allianz Arena in Munich.
Depending on the result between Hungary and Portugal in Budapest in the teatime kick-off, victory could put France or Germany top of Group F.
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Karim Benzema is set to start for France after recovering from a knock suffered in their friendly win over Bulgaria last weekend.
Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann are also set to feature after also recovering from knocks suffered in the same match.
Kurt Zouma however is a doubt with an unspecified injury.
Germany remain without Leon Goretzka as the midfielder continues to recover from a muscle injury.
Jonas Hofmann remains absent with a knee injury.
Stat Attack
- France have won just two of five previous meetings against Germany in major tournaments excluding penalty shootouts (W2, D1, L2), yet won their only Euros clash 2-0 in Euro 2016. .
- Germany have kept clean sheets in two of their last three clashes against France in major tournaments (W2, L1).
- Antoine Griezmann has scored four goals in five appearances for France in 2021.
- Ilkay Gundogan has scored three goals for Germany in 2021 – more than any other player in the team.
- Germany enter the tournament looking to avoid two consecutive group stage exits in different competitions for the first-ever time.
Prediction
Following brutal criticism from Olivier Giroud despite winning their two warm-up friendlies by 3-0 results, his French teammates now need to convert that feedback into positive motivation to go and get an early advantage in this difficult group.
Germany however are beginning their final tournament under the reins of Joachim Low and have three group matches at home with home fans in attendance, which will certainly give them a boost as they look to continue their rebuild after a disastrous 2018 World Cup title defence.
On that note, I do expect a tough contest here especially with Didier Deschamps’ 4-3-3 formation set to clash with Germany’s 3-4-3 style, which will certainly set up an interesting midfield battle but if N’Golo Kante is at his best then I can see France winning this otherwise a draw would suit both teams for now.
Prediction: France 1-1 Germany
