Portugal hosts France in the opening match of the UEFA Nations League on Saturday. The 2018-19 winners beat Andorra 7-0 in their first warm-up game, but France suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to Finland on Wednesday.
MATCH PREVIEW
Portugal face France in their final Euro Group A3 match on Tuesday night. The European champions have won all three of their games so far and sit top of the group with 10 points from a possible 12. France were held to a goalless stalemate by Portugal in their first game last month.
Portugal beat Andorra 0 in their first game of the Euro qualifying campaign. Paulinho, Pedro Neto and Cristiano Ronaldo all scored as they ran out comfortable winners. Portugal take on France in their second match on Saturday after a 0 win over Finland. The defending champions will be hoping to build on their impressive display against Andoria.
France lost 2-0 to Finland in their final warm-up game before the Euro finals. Marcus Forss and Onni Valakari both scored on their debuts for Finland as they ended France’s 12-game unbeaten run. Didier Deschamps’ side face Portugal in their second match of the tournament this weekend. The winner of this tie will go through to next year’s finals in Brazil.
TEAM NEWS
Cristiano Ronaldo is likely to start in goal for Portugal against Andorra on Saturday. Rui Patricio, Ruben Dias and Raphael Guerreiro are likely to return to the defence. William Carvalho, Danilo Pereira and Bruno Fernandes should make up the midfield. Joao Felix and Bernardo Silva likely to support Ronaldo in Santos’s front three.
Not with standing, the Bayern Munich man isn’t believed to convey a significant issue and he ought to be accessible for this vital match, implying that Wednesday’s debutant Marcus Thuram is probably going to drop down to the seat.
Hugo Lloris should return to supplant Steve Mandanda in the middle of the sticks, with Raphael Varane and Lucas Hernandez conceivably involving spots in the back four.
Further up the field, N’Golo Kante is probably going to begin in midfield while Anthony Martial and Antoine Griezmann ought to likewise get back to the main XI, yet Kylian Mbappe stays farfetched.
PORTUGAL POSSIBLE STARTING LINEUP:
Patricio
Cancelo
Dias
Fonte
Guerreiro
Pereira
Carvalho
Fernandes
Silva
Felix
Ronaldo
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