Sports Mole looks at how France could line up for Tuesday’s Euro 2024 clash with Poland at the Westfalenstadion.
Star forward and captain Kylian Mbappe was sorely missed by France on Friday when they played out Euro 2024‘s first goalless draw against the Netherlands, but he is likely to come back into the starting lineup against Poland on Tuesday.
After colliding with the shoulder of Kevin Danso and coming away with a bloodied and broken nose, manager Didier Deschamps took no risks with the Real Madrid-bound attacker last time out.
Even though the forward must wear a protective mask, France will want their captain back in the team in order to give themselves the best chance of finishing first in Group D, and in doing so avoid a potential matchup against the likes of Belgium from Group F.
Indeed, Les Bleus have not won any of the last seven games in which Kylian Mbappé has not started for them, drawing five times and losing twice.
Elsewhere, Mike Maignan has a 100% save percentage at Euro 2024 and is certain to continue in goal, while he will likely be protected by an unchanged defence of Jules Kounde, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano and Theo Hernandez.
Prior to the tournament there had been some debate about whether Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate would start for France ahead of Saliba, but Deschamps has selected the Arsenal centre-back in both of the two group games so far and has indicated that he will continue to do so.
In midfield, Deschamps may controversially leave Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni out of the team, as starting Mbappe will likely mean Adrien Rabiot begins the game in a deeper midfield position alongside N’Golo Kante.
Only Germany’s Toni Kroos has averaged more accurate passes per 90 than Tchouameni’s 103 at Euro 2024, but Rabiot has been a key player for France in past tournaments and it would be a surprise to see him left out.
In the forward line, Mbappe will most likely by supported by Marcus Thuram, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele, although Dembele’s performances have been somewhat lacklustre and Bradley Barcola will definitely be pushing for minutes.
France possible starting lineup: Maignan; Kounde, Saliba, Upamecano, Hernandez; Kante, Rabiot; Dembele, Griezmann, Thuram; Mbappe
> Click here to see how Poland could line up for this fixture
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