Euro 2012 Betting Preview - France 2/2

In the previous article found HERE we wrote about the Euro 2012 betting odds in relation to the French outfit going to the Championship. This article is a continuation of our Euro 2012 betting preview series. Here we focus on the midfield and the attacking options that France will field for the tournament. Let’s get to it:

Midfield

Florent Malouda (Chelsea) 74 caps, 8 goals. Malouda is a “flying leg winger” with great shot and good creativity. Good scoring record and experienced at the very highest level. Only downside is his fall from favour at Chelsea. He is currently not amongst the first team regulars.
Samir Nasri (Man City) 28 caps, 3 goals. Nasri can be deployed in most midfield positions. He is most comfortable as an attacking midfielder. He’s an excellent player, with many technical attributes. He has great vision, passing and creativity. Nasri is pacey and good skill on the ball. When he is on form he drifts effortlessly past players and creates opportunity for himself and others.
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) 57 caps, 7 goals. He can be deployed either as a Winger or forward. The kinky Frenchman is a very fast and direct player with a lot of trickery. Good scoring record at club level. He is a very exciting player, but has slightly under performed on the international scene. One expect only the best from him this time around.
Yann M'vila (18 caps, 1 goal) He is a strong defensive midfielder. With his powerful hard working and hard tackle he is one of those guys it hurts to play against. Small tricky players will get plenty of kicks and knocks from hime, be sure about it. He also has good passing and vision. He can be over zealous at times with his tackling. In a championship a red card might do a bigger difference than in a normal league set up so, let’s see what side of him he brings to the party.

Midfield analysis

France have many option in the middle with a variety of players and styles. We think they’re likely to go with the diamond of M'vila anchoring and Nasri attacking, with Malouda and Ribery providing width and pace.

As backup they got some intriguing back up players in Mathieu Valbuena and Yohan Gourciff, two highly rated attacking midfielders. Hatem  Ben Arfa has shown some glimpses of being back to his best and fellow Newcastle man Yohan Cabaye has been instrumental in their great season.

Attacking options

Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 42 caps, 13 goals. Beginning to show the real Benzema after a slow start in Madrid. Powerful, fast and direct. Capable of scoring all types of goals. Excellent season for Madrid with 36 goals to his name. Sure starter for France. A player we think will shine in this Euro 2012.
Olivier Giroud (Montpellier) Here we deal with another player in supreme form; scoring 25 goals to help Montpellier to the French title. Giroud is a tall and strong striker, very good in the air and his hold up play is excellent. He has got very little experience at the highest level though.

Forward Analysis

France are sweating on the return to fitness of Loic Remy. The highly rated Marseille man seems the perfect partner for Karim Benzema. It's looking increasingly unlikely he can make the finals and will be a huge miss. Benzema  is starting to show how great a striker he is at Madrid with some fantastic performances. He will need help though. France have plenty of decent back up strikers but none proven to be real world class at the highest level.

Euro 2012 betting

France will go head to head with England for Group D winner. I think that both teams will settle for a draw (3.25 generally) in the opening match and then both dispatch Ukraine and Sweden in a professional fashion. France to finish Group D with 7 points is 4.50 with Ladbrokes. That might be a little value.

Topping the group is a must for progression to avoid most likely playing Spain in the Quarterfinals.
Karim Benzema seems a good bet to us on the Outright Top Goalscorer at 21.00 (general price) and Top France goalscorer 4.33 with Betvictor.

If you fancy a repeat of France's last two disastrous tournament performances (bottom of group in 2008 and 2010) you can get France finish bottom of Group D at 5.50 (10bet). We do not think that is value however as there is some proof of unity finally in this French outfit.