Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at how France could line up on their trip to Belgium in the UEFA Nations League on Monday.
France will be without their captain Kylian Mbappe yet again when they travel to Brussels to face Belgium in the UEFA Nations League on Monday, with Paris Saint-Germain’s Bradley Barcola among those competing for a spot in the starting XI in his absence.
Mbappe was not called up to the squad this month due to the hamstring injury picked up late in September that was set to keep him sidelined for three weeks.
However, the new Galactico was arguably rushed back ahead of schedule, and missed only one game instead of the expected three, but he stayed with Real Madrid to continue his rehab work during this break.
Another regular fixture in the France setup will not be present this month, or ever again in the blue shirt of his national side, as Antoine Griezmann announced his international retirement two weeks ago.
The Atletico Madrid man stated he does not want to merely be a squad player, so hung up his boots after being dropped following the 3-1 defeat to Italy last month, despite still being one of manager Didier Deschamps‘s favourites.
That announcement came as something of a surprise considering he did start against Italy, and was only eight short of matching Hugo Lloris‘s all-time appearance record for Les Bleus.
Other players not in the squad are midfield duo Adrien Rabiot and N’Golo Kante, who have both been dealing with injury and a lack of game time so far this season.
A late withdrawal from Dayot Upamecano due to injury means that William Saliba and Ibrahima Konate are the certain options to start in the centre of defence, while Theo Hernandez will start on the left with Ferland Mendy still sidelined.
After such a dominant performance over Israel on Thursday, Deschamps may keep most of the team the same here, but Barcola and Matteo Guendouzi both scored off the bench and will be in contention.
Barcola has been unfortunate not to start either of France’s last two games after a strong showing despite the defeat to Italy on matchday one, and he could come in for Christopher Nkunku, who has not had as much game time as he would have liked at Chelsea so far this season.
Guendouzi could also benefit if Deschamps decides to go slightly more cautious in this one after naming a very offensive lineup against Israel, with the Lazio man the most probable candidate to come in if there is a shift from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3.
France possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Kounde, Konate, Saliba, T Hernandez; Tchouameni, Camavinga, Guendouzi; Olise, Kolo Muani, Barcola
Click here to see how Belgium could line up for this encounter.
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