Austria play France in the second game of Group D, where Les Blues are looking to end Ralf Ragnick's seven-game unbeaten run as head coach of Das Team.
The 2024 European Championships mark Austria’s fourth appearance at the tournament, where they hope to better their round of 16 loss to Italy last time round.
The two sides have met twice before in the UEFA Nations League, where France came out on top with a 2-0 win last time out, however, prior to that, Austria held them to a 1-1 draw.
Team News
The Austrians approach the game without their star man, David Alaba who is set to miss out due to injury. However, other than that, they have no suspensions or other injuries as of late, so they should be able to give their opening game a good go.
France come into the game without left-sided centre-back, Lucas Hernandez, which makes way for his brother Theo Hernandez, who may get a start. There have also been questions over the fitness of centre midfielder, Aurelien Tchouameni, who is recovering from a reported foot injury.
Didier Deschamps' men have no suspensions and despite the two injuries mentioned, they come into the game with a very strong squad. Deschamps therefore largely has the pick of a great bunch for his starting 11 and has the positive problem of having to choose between Giroud or Thuram to pair with Kylian Mbappe up front.
However, although there may not be many injuries, there were reports of a virus hitting the French camp and Kylian Mbappe and Kingsley Coman reportedly sat out of training on Thursday.
Likely Lineups:
Austria:
Linder; Posch, Lienhart, Trauner, Mwene; Laimer, Seiwald; Wimmer, Sabitzer, Baumgartner; Gregoritsch.
France:
Maignan; Kounde, Konate, Upamecano, T.Hernandez; Kante, Camavinga; Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe; Giroud.
Key Players:
Austria’s key player for this game looks likely to be Marcel Sabitzer who will play a pivotal role in midfield, in trying to break down the French attacks.
Sabitzer has a wealth of experience with 10 seasons in the Bundesliga and over 10 years playing for his national side. With nine assists and six goals last season for Dortmund, he will provide his team with creativity but will also look to be between the French midfielders in order to stop them playing.
He recently played in the Champions League final against Spanish giants, Real Madrid, where he faced Eduardo Camavinga as he likely will again on Monday.
He will play alongside Christoph Baumgartner who also has a big part to play as a creative, in what is likely to be a 4-2-3-1 formation for Ragnick’s men.
It is very easy to name France’s star man in Kylian Mbappe, with 27 goals in 29 matches last year, as well as a hat-trick in the World Cup final back in 2022.
After securing his move to Real Madrid, he will be looking to impress on the big stage again this summer and he is definitely ‘Les Blues’ goal machine. The Frenchman has scored 46 goals in 77 games for the national side and was also World Cup 2022’s top goalscorer.
However, the former PSG man will hope to put Euro 2020 behind him, where he failed to score in the tournament as his side was knocked out in the round of 16 on penalties to Switzerland.
Match Details:
Where is the game being played?
The game will be played in Düsseldorf at the Düsseldorf Arena unsurprisingly home to Bundesliga 2 side, Düsseldorf. The stadium holds a maximum capacity of 54,600.
What time is kick off?
The game will kick off at 8 pm UK time but 9 pm local time.
How can I watch?
The game will be broadcast in the UK on ITV1, ITV X, STV player and STV where coverage begins at 7:15pm.
