Brazil and France will use the international break to iron out any remaining issues ahead of the World Cup and finalize their squads. To that end, we can look forward to a high-profile friendly match at Gillette Stadium.
Carlo Ancelotti has a lot of work ahead of him in the coming months, as his Brazil team was far from convincing in the qualifiers, even though they qualified early.
They suffered a total of six losses in their 18 qualifying matches, which is more than ever before in the national team’s history.
Didier Deschamps’ France had a much smoother path to the World Cup finals, as Les Bleus did not suffer a single loss in their six matches (W5, D1).
The legendary French manager will leave the national team after the tournament, so their goal is to win it once again following their 2018 triumph.
There aren’t many surprises in the roster of players called up for the team’s friendlies, so we expect to see a very strong France looking for its first win against Brazil since 2011.
How the bookies view it: France with a slight edge
The bookmakers aren’t surprising anyone with their odds, as expectations are for an extremely close match between two of the strongest national teams, even in a friendly. Still, we see a slight edge for Les Bleus, as the team is in better overall form.
Currently, you can bet on Brazil at 7/4, the draw at 12/5, or France at 7/5.
Recent head-to-head: Brazil won the last two friendlies
France and Brazil haven't played an official match in nearly 20 years, since they last faced off in the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup. France won that match 1-0.
Since then, they have faced each other three times in friendly matches, most recently in 2015, with Brazil holding a 2-1 advantage from those meetings.
Players to watch: Thiago on his debut
Brazil’s main issues lie in defence, where Ancelotti needs to rebuild his backline. In attack, however, the team has more than enough world-class players, and one of the new faces in the squad, Igor Thiago, has scored 19 goals in the Premier League this season.
There will certainly be good odds on him, and if Ancelotti makes some experimental rotations, he might be worth a bet.
Alternatively, you can always bet on Vinicius Junior, who is in brilliant form right now. Real Madrid’s star scored braces against both Atletico and Man City in his last two appearances.
Probable line-ups
Brazil: Ederson, D. Santos, Marquinhos, Bremer, Wesley, Raphinha, A. Santos, Casemiro, Vinicius Jr, Pedro, Cunha
France: Maignan, Hernandez, Upamecano, Konate, Gusto, Tchouameni, Rabiot, Olise, Cherki, Mbappe, Dembele
Anything else catch the eye?
Despite all the top players in this Brazilian squad, we can’t ignore the fact that the Selecao have been far from their best lately.
Didier Deschamps has a phenomenal team at his disposal and players in top form across the board. We expect France to prevail in this match, though of course Brazil should score at least one goal.
And the fact that there’s nothing at stake could lead to plenty of goals, so we’d also bet on over 1.5 goals at halftime.
Think both sides will find the net? Our BTTS Masterclass explains how to spot the fixtures where goals are a given.
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