France and Switzerland are set to meet in the game that will likely decide Group E on Friday, after France made convincing work of Honduras and Switzerland edged by Ecuador over the weekend.
France made our 2014 World Cup Sleepers as a team who could potentially cause upsets and win the World Cup. Check out how they fare against the rest of the group in our Group E preview.
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France vs. Switzerland, World Cup 2014, Group Stage Betting Preview and Prediction
Coming into Brazil 2014, Les Bleus have failed to score in their last three opening games in the World Cup. They ended that trend convincingly after trouncing Honduras 3-0.
[sc:Soccer240banner ]Among all the nations competing in the World Cup, France has one of the deepest pools of talent available. The team has exceptional players at every position who are active in successful teams in the upper echelon of major European leagues.
Spearheading the frontline is World Cup Karim Benzema who helped make up for the offense left out by the absence of Franck Ribery. The French striker scored two goals, and took seven of France’s 20 total shots.
Benzema has the potential of wreaking havoc, especially when allowed to work in an open midfield or left unmarked in front of the goal, and has scored seven goals in his last seven games for France.
The question for France will be if they can continue to find offensive success against the stout Swiss defense. Les Bleus will likely not get close to 20 shots in this game, and will need more with what little they can muster.
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Betting on Switzerland
Switzerland have scored seven of their last nine goals in the World Cup in the second half. Such was the story of their World Cup opener as they came from behind to beat Ecuador in dramatic fashion.
Xherdan Shaqiri and team captain Gokhan Inler by taking shots and creating chances, but could not get anything going in the first half. In the end, it was not the star players to have scored for them. Instead, it was the day of the substitutes.
Manager Ottmar Hitzfeld made the decision to sub in Admir Mehmedi at halftime. As it turns out, the decision was a welcome one. Within three minutes of restarting, Mehmedi headed a corner kick by Ricardo Rodriguez to score the equalizer.
It was only much later that another substitute, Haris Seferovic, would make his biggest contribution to the game. A timely tackle from midfielder Valon Behrami started a series of passes that ended with Seferovic scoring a goal as the seconds trickled down to end the match. They were the first goals to be scored by Swiss substitutes in the team’s history at the World Cup.
Even though Switzerland snatched victory against Ecuador, they still had their flaws. Their defense was breached on more than one occasion by Ecuadorian attacks. Against a formidable French side, the play of the Swiss defenders could make or break this game.
Writer’s Prediction
France (-133) handles Switzerland’s defensive efforts to solidify their spot atop Group E.
