The 2018 World Cup has been a wild ride chock-full of surprises. Now heading into the quarterfinals, a great match between France and Uruguay kicks things off on Friday. Read on for the World Cup betting preview.
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World Cup Quarterfinals – France vs. Uruguay
- Date: June 28, 2018
- Betting Odds: France +102 vs Uruguay +379 – Draw +216
Of the seven matches France and Uruguay have played, the South Americans have won two with France earning one game. They’ve drawn on four matches, three of which were in a World Cup.
Uruguay Insights
The South Americans will be without their star striker Edinson Cavani after he left their game against Portugal with a limp. He’ll be replaced by Girona striker Cristhian Stuani with Barcelona’s Luis Suarez joining him up-front to play in Uruguay’s 4-4-2 formation.
Arguably, Uruguay is the most overlooked of squads left in this competition. Despite winning all four of their matches in World Cup 2018 while outscoring opponents 7-1, not many people believed the Uruguayans would have reached this far.
Nevertheless, along the way, they beat Euro 2016 winners Portugal in the last 16 to reach this stage and they’ve only conceded one goal through all matches played.
Uruguay’s defense is solid and they will make France work to gain an advantage. Los Celestes are a disciplined squad that is much better prepared than Argentina and will make it hard for France to score goals.
France will be Uruguay’s defense hardest challenge so far; unlike Portugal, Uruguay will have to contend will multiple attackers who are all capable of scoring or creating scoring opportunities.
On the flip side, France conceded three goals to Argentina which something Luis Suarez will undoubtedly seek to gain on advantage on.
Uruguay Predicted Lineup: Muslera, Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Laxalt, Nandez, Torreira, Vecino, Rodriguez, Bentancur, Suarez
France Insights
19-year-old Kylian Mbappe is on the verge of leading his country’s team to the World Cup semifinals. France should be at full strength with the only absence being that of Blaise Matuidi who will miss out due to an accumulation of yellow cards in their game against Argentina.
Though young in age, Mbappe has made his mark on the world stage, showing his brilliance and athleticism with two goals scored against Argentina that helped to win the match.
France’s squad is full of young talent that sets a blazing pace in games that’s hard to contend with. Players of the likes of Antoine Griezmann may have a big game is much of the focus is placed on players such as Mbappe. Griezmann will have to contend with his Atletico Madrid teammates Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez, two players with tons of experience on defense.
France is among the favorites to win the World Cup and has won six with two draws in their last eight games since a friendly defeat to Colombia back in March. I
In Russia, they defeated Australia 2-1 behind an Antoine Griezmann penalty and a goal from Paul Pogba before Kylian Mbappe scored the only goal against Peru. A stalemate with Denmark followed, but they notched goals in the thrilling 4-3 second-round win against Argentina.
France Predicted Lineup: Lloris, Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez, Pogba, Kante, Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe, Giroud
Game Prediction: Cavani’s absence may factor in Uruguay’s ability to score if Suarez cannot pick up the slack. France’s athleticism will overpower even Uruguay’s solid defenses and they’ll escape with a close 1-0 win.