France vs Italy Preview

France vs Italy

Competition – International Friendly

Stadium – Allianz Riviera

Date: 1st June 2018

Kick-off time – 20:00 GMT

With a few days to go before their first match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, France take on Italy in one of the pre-tournament friendlies.

The visitors may not have qualified for the World Cup, but they dropped just seven points in qualification and finished second behind Spain in their qualifying group, however, their playoff defeat at the hands of Sweden would have left bitter taste in their mouths.

The Italians who have nothing to lose should be very difficult opponents for France here and it will be interesting to see how this talented French squad fair.

The French national team is packed with stars and any of their attackers such as Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud who could walk into any national team.

Their defence also has a perfect blend of skill and youth while Hugo Lloris is one of the best goalies in the world. They go to the World Cup as favourites yet again.

This summer’s break gives Roberto Mancini a chance to rebuild his talented but underachieving Italian squad.

The first task he has is to decide who takes over from Gianluigi Buffon with Gianluigi Donnarumma who got his 6th cap against Saudi Arabia the most likely heir to the throne.

Without the likes of Giorgio Chiellini and Matteo Darmian, Mancini will be handing opportunities to new players including Sassuolo striker Domenico Berardi.

France have won four of their last seven meetings with Italy.  They won each of those matches by scoring at least two goals.

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

France

LAST FIVE GAMES DATE COMPETITION
W Russia 1-3 France 27 Mar, 2018 International Friendly
L France 2-3 Colombia 23 Mar, 2018 International Friendly
D Germany 2-2 France 14 Nov, 2017 International Friendly
W France 2-0 Wales 10 Nov, 2017 International Friendly
W France 2-1 Belarus 10 Oct, 2017 FIFA World Cup Qualifying –

Italy

LAST FIVE GAMES DATE COMPETITION
D England 1-1 Italy 27 Mar, 2018 International Friendly
L Argentina 2-0 Italy 23 Mar, 2018 International Friendly
D Italy 0-0 Sweden 13 Nov, 2017 FIFA World Cup Qualifying –
L Sweden 1-0 Italy 10 Nov, 2017 FIFA World Cup Qualifying –
W Albania 0-1 Italy 9 Oct, 2017 FIFA World Cup Qualifying –

H2H

LAST FIVE GAMES DATE COMPETITION
Italy 1-3 France 1 Sep, 2016 International Friendly
Italy 1-2 France 14 Nov, 2012 International Friendly
France 0-2 Italy 17 Jun, 2008 European Championship
Italy 0-0 France 8 Sep, 2007 European Championship Qualifying
France 3-1 Italy 6 Sep, 2006 European Championship Qualifying

Check Also

Internazionale vs Como Preview

Inter Milan will look to make it four league wins in a row when they ...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *