France vs. Finland 9/7/21 European World Cup Qualifications Soccer Pick, Odds, and Prediction

France is welcoming Finland to Groupama Stadium in round 6 of Group D of the World Cup Qualifications. France isn’t playing well as of late, and they have tied 4 of their last 5 games. Finland on the other hand has been solid, and they are now in 2^nd place of this group.

France has played 2 games in these qualifications so far in this cycle, and both have ended in a 1-1 draw. In their last game against Ukraine on the road, France has had 61% of ball possession, 5 shots on goal, 3 corner kicks, 3 big chances created, and a solid 90% of the correct passes. France has conceded first, in the 44^th minute, but they have tied the score in the 50^th minute, and despite having a few more good chances, France wasn’t able to score another goal. The final score of this match was 1-1. Griezmann is the leading goalscorer for France with 3 goals. As I’ve mentioned, the morale in France isn’t great, they haven’t been playing well on either end, but they are still at the top of this group, and I think they will stay there. France will once again be without Mbappe, and they really need someone to step up.

Finland is a tough little team to beat, they are solid on the defensive end, but they are not scoring a lot of goals. Finland hasn’t lost any of their last 2 games, and they have won their last game against Kazakhstan. Finland was the better team in that match with 57% of ball possession, 4 shots on goal, 4 corner kicks, 8 shots inside the box, and 81% of the correct passes. As expected, this wasn’t a game with a lot of goals, and Finland was the only one that scored, in the 60^th minute. Finland has won this match 1-0. Pukki has been in solid form for Finland, and he is their leading goalscorer with 3 goals. Finland is in the World Cup spot right now, well, the additional qualifications spot, but they will need to remain focused until the end because Ukraine is right behind them with the same number of points.

Finland has beaten France on the road last year, and because France is in such terrible shape, who’s to say that won’t happen here as well. France might be the better and the deeper team here, but Finland is very good on the defensive end, and I don’t think we will see a lot of goals.