After a disappointing performance against Nigeria on Tuesday, France will be looking for a confidence boosting victory in their friendly against Turkey on Friday evening.
France are in a period of transition, and have been for the past few years. The old guard of Zidane, Pires, Trezeguet, Makelele, Thuram and Barthez have been phased out, and replaced with a younger generation, of quick, technically good players, however, the fear within France is that they aren’t quite up to the standard of the ‘golden generation’ of 1998.
This was very apparent in their one-nil home defeat against Nigeria on Tuesday. There was a lack of flow to the French play, and they played like a group of individuals who lacked both understanding and direction. Manager Raymond Domenech is running out of time to convince the fans that he is the right man to bring through the new players, and a defeat against Turkey on Friday, even though it is only a friendly match, could well spell the end of his tenure.
France are available at 8/11 (WilliamHill) to win in Paris, and on reputation, that is a good bet. However, as was seen against Nigeria, when a manager experiments with his side, it can often lead to a poor collective performance, and those who believe this might again be the case, will be tempted by odds of 9/2 (SkyBet) on a Turkey victory, or 5/2 (Coral) on a draw.
It seems likely, however, that Domenech will have learned his lessons from the Nigeria match, and no doubt will have told his players, and in particular his mis-firing attackers that neither he, nor the crowd at the Stade de France will tolerate anything less than a victory. The French should come out attacking, although Bet365’s price of 3/2 on France/France in the half-time/full-time market looks slim, and is underestimating a Turkish side who reached the semi-finals of the last European Championships, and boast more quality in their ranks than Nigeria.
A better choice is the Draw/France option, available at 7/2 (Ladbrokes), especially when it is taken into consideration that France haven’t led at half-time in any of their last ten international fixtures.
In fact, the French have only managed to find the net twice in their last five matches, with Bayern Munich midfielder Franck Ribery scoring a second half winner in both one-nil World Cup Qualification victories over Lithuania. That same score-line is available at 11/2 (WilliamHill) although those unconvinced by the French may instead prefer a one-one draw (6/1, Coral) or even a one-nil (9/1, PaddyPower) or two-one (16/1, Labrokes) victory for Turkey, which as previously stated, would surely spell the end of Domenech’s time in charge.
Recommendations
HT/FT – Draw/France (7/2, Ladbrokes)
Correct Score – France 1 Turkey 0 (11/2, WilliamHill)
Watch the live stream for free at bet365 > Sports > live streaming