France ready to crush Iceland, but back away side to get a consolation

France will head into Euro 2012 full of confidence on the back of an 18 game unbeaten run that stretches back to the opening round of qualifying games for the tournament in September 2010.

Since then, Les Blues have put together a sequence of results that saw them top their qualifying group – albeit having left it very late against Bosnia-Herzegovina in their final game – and beat England, Brazil and most recently Germany in friendly matches.

Next up for Laurent Blanc’s side is a warm-up match against Iceland, who themselves have not qualified for this summer’s tournament, and who are unlikely to pose much danger to France’s undefeated record on Sunday evening.

Lars Lagerback’s side finished second-bottom of their Euro 2012 qualifying group having managed to muster just one win and a draw from their eight matches, and scored just six goals in the process.

Iceland did manage to score three away in Portugal in their final qualification game, and at odds of 29/20 for both teams to score in the game, this looks a great outside bet.

France have therefore been priced as huge favourites for the win at 3/25 in bwin’s 3Way football betting market, with the draw at 25/4, while a shock Iceland victory can be backed at an eye-watering 19/1.

This will be only the third time the two nations have met, the last time coming back in 1999 when they were paired together in the same qualifying group for Euro 2000, which ended in a 3-2 victory for Les Blues.

Iceland head into the game on the back of three successive defeats and a pretty dismal international record, with their 1-0 win over Cyprus last September being their first since claiming victory over Andorra back in May 2010.

Given the attacking talent they will be coming up against in the form of Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Franck Ribery amongst others, backing the game to feature over 2.5 goals at 9/20 looks a banker.

Lagerback’s side have conceded ten goals in their last three matches, so taking this into account, backing France to win despite a one-goal handicap, at 21/50, is also definitely worth considering.

Rather surprisingly, however, Iceland did manage to score three away in Portugal in their final qualification game, and at odds of 29/20 for both teams to score in the game, this looks a great outside bet.

But in the end, with the players Blanc has at his disposal, and with each of them keen to impress to ensure their place in his starting line-up for the opening game of the tournament against England, this game should end in nothing other than a comfortable home win.

Banker bets:

Over 2.5 goals @ 9/20

France to win by at least two goals @ 21/50

Recommended  bet:

Both teams to score @ 29/20

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