France vs. England Euro 2012 Match Betting Preview »

by Gambling.com staff

The last time England played France in a competitive tournament – Euro 2004 – they went ahead, missed a penalty and then conceded two Zinedine Zidane goals in the last two minutes on their way to a 2-1 defeat. Needless to say that Roy Hodgson will hope for a very different outcome on Monday, as England open Group D against Les Blues.

Despite entering the tournament on the back of two consecutive 1-0 wins against Norway and Belgium, England have been hit by a series of injuries depriving them of Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry and Gary Cahill.

France, on the other hand, have put their shambolic performances in the 2010 World Cup well and truly behind them and are unbeaten in their last 21 games.

Such differences in morale and form explain why the majority of punters indulging in France vs. England betting consider the French to be firm favourites ahead of the game. At the time of writing, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power were offering odds of a France win at 7/5 and 6/4 respectively, and an England win at 2/1 and 21/10 respectively.

Hodgson and captain Steven Gerrard have recently claimed that a lack of expectations could allow England to play without a heavy psychological burden and perhaps spark a few football betting surprises along the way.

A draw against France would go some way to justifying those claims, though Bet365 football doesn’t consider it very likely as they’re offering 21/10 on that outcome.

Paddy Power football odds of 1/2 for the game to finish with 2.5 goals or less could well be a bet worth taking considering Hodgson’s typical tactical set up. Indeed, although England’s defence has been hit by injury and France come in off the back of scoring nine goals in their last three games, don’t expect this to be a high scoring affair.

Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema is 5/1 to be the first goalscorer with the bookmakers at Bet365 or 15/8 to score at any time, which seem generous prices if you don’t mind football betting against your own side.

England’s hopes of getting the first goal are spread over three players over at Ladbrokes football with Ashley Young, Andy Carroll and Danny Welbeck all at 8/1.