TFT Issue 57!
FreeHowdy guys and girls!
Featured game
France U21 vs Spain U21
Today’s featured game is the international friendly in France between France U21 and Spain U21.
Unlike most U21 friendlies, this game does have a purpose with both sides preparing for the U21 European Championship in Denmark in June this year so I expect this game to be taken seriously by both managers and sets of players alike.
Both sides are missing players for this game (e.g. Muniain for Spain U21) that may impact their displays but I’m not expecting a drastic reduction in the atypical game that we’d see between these two sides. France U21 often possess a very good youth team which ultimately becomes a disappointing senior team but their U21 teams do tend to remain amongst the best in Europe. France U21 play good footabll and with emerging stars like Sissoko in the middle of the park and pacey Griezmann on the flank, I think it’s fair to expect their usual attacking style to yield goals here.
However, Spain U21 are still the best U21 side in the world, for me. They possess players of such quality in every area of the team that it’s hard to overlook them in any game. Pacheco, Merida, Camacho etc. are all very talented players and Spain’s team is more than good enough to generate and score their chances in this game, especially with such a wide variety of talent in their attacking arsenal so I fancy Spain to score against their hosts here.
As you can see from both teams, Spain bring more talent to this game but France bring more players with regular competitive match experience so this game should be nicely balanced. Spain’s usual weakness at the back is present in this game but France’s lack of ability in that area is also an Achilles heel so we should see a fairly entertaining game here with two sides having everything to prove and nothing to lose.
I was tempted to take an outright Spanish win here but I don’t want to underestimate the French youth team because they play well in the vast majority of their games. However, backing both sides to score in a game between two of Europe’s best U21 teams seems logical and with no pressure on either side, I think it’s also realistic. The price of it occurring is decent at 4/5 so that’s my call here.
France squad:
Goalkeepers – Delle (Metz), Gorgelin (Olympique Lyonnais)
Defenders – Baysse (Stade Brestois), Corchia (Le Mans), M’Bengue (Toulouse), Makonda (Paris Saint-Germain), Mangala (Standard de Liege), N’Diaye (AS Nancy-Lorraine), Stambouli (Montpellier HSC), Varane (Racing Club Lens)
Midfielders – Guilavogui (Saint-Etienne), Martin (Sochaux), Moulin (Stade Malherbe de Caen), Pajot (Boulogne), Sissoko (Toulouse), Sylla (Clermont Foot)
Strikers – Cabella (Arles), Camara (Stade Rennais), Griezmann (Real Sociedad), Gueye (Eveton), Pied (Olympique Lyonnais), Privat (Clermont Foot), Riviere (Saint-Etienne), Saivet (Angers SCO)
Spain squad:
Goalkeepers – Villar (Villarreal CF), Blazquez (Atletico Madrid)
Defenders – Kiko (Hercules Alicante), Fernandez (Real Madrid), Martinez (Villarreal CF), Aregall (Barcelona), Antolinez (Barcelona), Ayala (Derby County)
Midfielders – Madrazo (Real Madrid), Andonegui (Real Sociedad), Camacho (Malaga), Recio (Malaga), Lopez (Real Madrid), Merida (Atletico Madrid)
Strikers – Silva (Villarreal CF), Lozano (Sevilla CF), Pacheco (Liverpool), Vazquez (Espanyol)
Both sides to score at 4/5.