France vs Republic of Ireland Prediction and Betting Tips | 7th September 2023

France will look to make it five wins in five matches in Group B of the Euro 2024 Qualifiers when they take on Republic of Ireland on Thursday.

Les Bleus have enjoyed a perfect start to their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, winning their first four matches in the group with a combined scoreline of 9-0. Didier Deschamps' men beat 10-men Greece 1-0 in their latest qualifier on June 19.

Kylian Mbappe scored the lone goal of the game from the spot after Konstantinos Mavropanos was penalized for booting Antoine Griezmann in the face inside the box.

France had earlier kicked off their Euro qualifying campaign with an emphatic 4-0 win over the Netherlands on March 24.

They beat Republic of Ireland 1-0 in the reverse fixture on the latter's home soil three days later and will be looking to improve on that performance when the two sides clash again on Thursday.

The French midfield has undergone a few major changes in recent times. 2018 FIFA World Cup-winning midfielders Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante have been left out while Adrien Rabiot has made a return to the squad this time.

Their attacking department continues to be packed with quality with the Paris Saint-Germain trio of Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Randal Kolo Muani expected to make an appearance.

But Deschamps is likely to pick the tried and tested combination of Mbappe, Olivier Giroud, Kingsley Coman and Antoine Griezmann to start in attack.

Meanwhile, Republic of Ireland will be looking to avenge their loss at the Aviva Stadium in the reverse fixture. Stephen Kenny's side fell to back-to-back defeats in their first two fixtures of their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign against France and Greece respectively.

But they bounced back in their latest outing and finally got their first three points against minnows Gibraltar.

They have five more fixtures left to make up for lost ground and will be looking to turn things around quickly starting with Thursday's matchup. Ireland will have their work cut out for them in enemy territory against an in-form France side.

France vs Republic of Ireland Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• Since suffering a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Croatia in the UEFA Nations League in June 2022, France have picked up three successive wins on home soil without shipping in a goal.
• France are unbeaten in their last eight meetings with Republic of Ireland in all competitions.
• Republic of Ireland have won six, lost six and drawn two of their last 14 matches across all competitions.
• Republic of Ireland haven't qualified for a major competition since Euro 2016. They made it as far as the Round of 16 of Euro 2016 where they fell to a 2-1 loss to France.
• Republic of Ireland have not scored more than one goal in any of their last eight meetings with France in all competitions.

France vs Republic of Ireland Prediction

Republic of Ireland will be without young and in-form striker Evan Ferguson during this international break. The Brighton & Hove Albion centre-forward picked up a knee injury after scoring a hat-trick in the Seagulls' latest outing against Newcastle United on September 2.

Republic of Ireland managed to contain France for the greater part of their 1-0 loss in the reverse fixture (March 27). They will find it hard to repeat the same on Thursday against Deschamps' men, who have done well on home territory in recent times.

France are expected to execute an impressive attacking display and win this one without much hassle.

Prediction: France 3-0 Republic of Ireland

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France vs Republic of Ireland Betting Tips

Tip 1: Result - France to win

Tip 2: Game to have over 2.5 goals - Yes

Tip 3: France to keep a clean sheet - Yes