Hungary v France: Les Bleus' attacking might to end hosts' hopes

Hungary v France: Les Bleus' attacking might to end hosts' hopes

The odds on tournament favourites France winning comfortably against Hungary are too good to overlook, writes James Eastham...

France set to improve

With a hint of better things to come France ran out deserved 1-0 winners over Germany on Tuesday and the 4.9 tournament favourites look a good bet to secure an even more emphatic victory this time.

Didier Deschamps' side needed a Mats Hummels own goal to secure all three points against die Mannschaft but they came close to scoring on several other occasions: Adrien Rabiot struck a post, whilst Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe had goals chalked off for marginal offside decisions.

Clearly France have yet to hit top form at these finals but against Germany their attacking potential was there for all to see and they stand a better chance of finding the net more than once against a more limited Hungary side.

Hungary's tactical dilemma

In their opening game Hungary produced a spirited performance against Portugal before collapsing in the final 10 minutes. The home supporters will have been cheered by the fearlessly positive football the team played at times.

Yet the lack of quality that they exhibited in the final third and the way they conceded a trio of goals fairly cheaply towards the end of the game hinted at the kind of problems they're likely to have against an arguably even stronger France side.

Tactically Hungary face a dilemma now: after their opening-game defeat, they have to get something from this fixture to keep alive their slim hopes of getting through the Group of Death (F). Attacking and opening themselves up against France, however, may lead only to further punishment.

Getting the balance right between defence and attack is difficult for even the best teams to achieve against France, and Hungary are far from one of the best teams in this competition.

Favourites ought to win well

The ideal scenario for France would be to score the early goal that would allow them to play on the break, arguably their preferred tactic. Given the quality that they often produce on the counter, such a set-up would surely enable les Bleus to add further goals.

At whatever point they find the net in this game, however, France look a good bet to win by a bigger margin than they managed to against Germany because the difference in class between these two sides ultimately ought to be obvious.

France are 1.3 to collect all three points, which is a fair assessment but will have little appeal for most bettors.

Instead, we prefer backing France on the Asian Handicap market. By supporting France -1.5, you'll make a profit if France win by two or more goals.

The odds of close to evens on this selection are appealing given the firepower in the France ranks, and particularly in light of the fact that Benzema and Mbappe will be especially keen to net their first goals of the tournaments after seeing their individual efforts against Germany ruled out.

A second selection on the game would be to back France to score in the second-half. Looking at the odds available across all categories for the match, the smart way to support this predicted outcome would be via the Team Second Half Goals market.

In this market, you can back France to Score Exactly 1 Second Half Goal at 2.4 and France to Score 2 or more Second Half Goals at 2.7. By splitting your stakes across these two selections, you'll make a profit as long as France find the net after the interval.