France will entertain Austria at the Stade de France on Thursday night as they look to secure a positive result in the UEFA Nations League. The French players suffered a poor 1-0 loss at the hands of Croatia earlier this summer, so they will be eager to put in a much-improved showing in Europe later this week.
Didier Deschamps will opt for a 4-3-3 formation and is expected to make a few changes to his starting XI due to injuries to some of his key first-team players like Paul Pogba, Hugo Lloris, Theo Hernandez, Presnel Kimpembe, Lucas Hernandez, N’Golo Kante, Kingsley Coman and Karim Benzema ahead of this game.
4-3-3 France Predicted Lineup To Face Austria
Defence
Mike Maignan will operate in goal for France as Hugo Lloris is currently injured. William Saliba could get the nod to operate alongside Jules Kounde at the centre of Deschamps’ defence as they try to keep things solid at the back during the 90 minutes.
Benjamin Pavard could fill in at right-back while Adrien Truffert hopes to give a good account of himself on the other side as the left-back. Both of them will probably get the license to get forward and join in on the attack when they can.
Jonathan Clauss could offer cover for the right-back position on the bench. Benoit Badiashile will also have to settle for a substitute role after being called up by France for international duty this week.
Midfield
Deschamps could choose to go with a midfield comprised of Adrien Rabiot, Aurelien Tchouameni and Matteo Guendouzi. All three of them need to work hard in dominating possession at the centre of the park and would have to engineer some inviting chances in the final third.
Boubacar Kamara and Paul Pogba will definitely miss this game because of injuries. However, Youssouf Fofana will be named on Deschamps’ bench as he waits for his opportunity to impress in the second 45 minutes if required.
Attack
Christopher Nkunku will probably get a chance to impress as the left-sided wide player. Kylian Mbappe will look to do the same from the right. Antoine Griezmann will lead the line for France down the middle in the injury absence of Karim Benzema.
Wissam Ben Yedder and Moussa Diaby will be available for selection on the bench and might come to influence the game in the latter stages if Les Bleus are in need of a goal by then.
