World Cup
2012-09-07 - Finland vs France
A Sports Betting Pick by Lamps
Football : Internationals : World Cup Qualification
Friday 7th September - Kickoff 7:30pm
Finland
Scandinavian side Finland host France on Friday night looking to pull off an upset in their home opener. Paatelainen doesn't have the most experienced of squads to play with but his side are unbeaten in 4 and carry some confidence ahead of Friday's game.
Finland won back to back games against Turkey (3-2) and Estonia (1-2) whilst drawing to both Latvia (1-1) and Northern Ireland (3-3) in their most friendlies.
Looking at the form from the previous qualification campaign Finland didn't look too bad registering 3 wins of which 2 came at home. The problem is that the wins were against San Marino (8-0) and Moldova (4-1) two of the smallest nations competing.
At home to Sweden, Hungary and Holland some of the bigger named sides. Finland lost all 3 encounter 1-2 to Hungary, 0-2 to Holland and 1-2 to Sweden. However, in 2 of the 3 they did score and if they do so against France a draw may be possible.
France
Deschamps takes over from Blanc who really messed up at the Euros this Summer. France needed to match England in the last game to avoid Spain but they crumbled to Sweden and then were outplayed for the whole 90 minutes against Spain.
This is a new and fresh start for France and I expect big things from Deschamps. The side is on a little slide at the moment with no wins and no goals scored in their last 3 games. Fortunately this side won't be up against the likes of Uruguay, Spain and Sweden on Friday and they look at the form before the finals ahead of this game.
Pre Euros, France were on a 23 game unbeaten run including friendlies and I imagine with a new boss they will really be fire up for this one. In the last 9 away games France have won 7 scoring more than 1 goal in 6 of these games and they should be good for at least 1 on Friday.
The squad is full of star names including Ribery, Cabaye, Nasri, Ben Arfa and Benzema. I can't see France dropping points here in this one although it may take them some time to break down the hosts.
Betting Verdict
The French have a great head to head over the hosts winning all 6 meetings going back to the 1960's. The last meeting was back in 98 so it's hard to make use of these meetings but I still fancy the away side.
France are priced at cira 1.50 and that's short to back as a single whilst the Asian line of -1 doesn't appeal either. I think Finland are good for a goal on Friday especially if they replicate their performances against Hungary and Sweden.
There is a worry that France will do a job on them and win to nil but at odds against I fancy overs here. This for me really depends on the home side scoring, if they get 1 this should sail over with the 0-2 away win a concern.
The French have lots of attacking options and should get us 2 if not all 3 but a home goal and we should have 3 or more goals.
Good Luck
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Finland 1-2 France
