France – Croatia

France should finally emerge victorious after four unsuccessful attempts

France will take on Croatia at home on Monday 13 June. There is a surprise in one of the strongest groups in the Nations League. France are still in last place with just two points. They are without a win. At the same time, there is still a chance of being at the top of the quartet, but to do so they must win three games in a row. France have been one of the major disappointments of the summer tournament. Didier Deschamps' side lost in the first game to Denmark. But they were clearly closer to victory. Two more very strange matches followed. Against Croatia away, France were stronger, but conceded a goal in the 83rd minute. Against Austria, it was the reverse scenario. It was a comeback. The world champions dominated the second half, but ultimately came within a step of winning through bad luck. Lack of luck is one of the important factors. France still have a very high quality attack. They could be lacking motivation, but that certainly shouldn't be a factor in the run-up to Game 4. The Draughtsmen are not making any significant progress. An attempt to play offensively against Austria failed. In the match against Denmark, the Croats did not look stronger. They just converted their chance after a free-kick. The bookmakers are giving very low odds on France. The odds have already dropped below 1.60. It's not too profitable to bet on the favourite team with such an outcome. At the same time, France is really stronger than Croatia, which was visible in the encounter. On the home field, and with Kylian Mbappe in the starting line-up, they are likely to storm out. The home side should look fresher. It's trite, but the visitors simply don't have such a deep squad. France will need to create a big advantage in the first half because of their quality attacking moves. Plus, the luck factor is important. France have scored clearly less than they should have in the Nations League. Croatia have no strong trump cards to play back. The squad is quite old, and the young players are severely inferior. A few goals from France in the first half looks like a good bet. The team will go on the attack from the first minute, in order to rehabilitate themselves for their recent failures.