France – $1.33 at WilliamHill.com
Draw – $5.50 at www.Bet365.com
Romania – $13 at William Hill
France will look to underline their title favouritism on Friday night in the opening fixture of the 2016 European Championship group stages.
Les Bleus are $4 favourites in the Euro 2016 outright betting at Sportsbet, despite losing some key figures in the run-in.
Raphael Varane, Jeremy Mathieu and Lassana Diarra were all cut down by injury, while Mamadou Sakho was dumped after serving a provisional doping ban.
Then there’s the small matter of Eric Cantona accusing France coach Didier Deschamps – his former national teammate and long-time adversary – of excluding Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa for racial reasons.
While rumours of internal discord continue to spread through the media, Laurent Koscielny this week insisted that he and his compatriots weren’t bothered by such speculation.
“It’s not a problem at all,” the Arsenal defender told Omnisport.
“Some things might disturb us but others won’t and this hasn’t troubled us at all. We have a good group, we [get on] well together on [and] off the pitch.
“We know that this is our strength. We leave those negative things outside.”
Rather, Koscielny said the players were focused on meeting the sky-high expectations of the French fans.
“To have the opportunity to play this competition in France is very important and very exciting,” he continued.
“We feel a bit of pressure from the fans and the media. It’s different from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil where we could feel the fervour from the French people but it was nothing like what we can feel right now.
“We’ve been to Biarritz, Nantes and Mets and we could feel the enthusiasm. Everyone is proud of the team and it’s added motivation for us.”
France’s road to the knockout rounds starts with Romania, who will head into Friday night’s Group A opener as $13 underdogs at William Hill.
Once among the most exciting of Europe’s emerging post-Soviet football nations, the Tricolorii have fallen on hard times in recent years.
The golden days of Gheorghe Hagi, Dan Petrescu, Adrian Mutu and Cristian Chivu are long gone, leaving a rag-tag bunch with very few household names.
Of their 23 players, only Vlad Chiriches (Napoli), Razvan Rat (Rayo Vallecano) and goalkeepers Ciprian Tatarusanu (Fiorentina) and Costel Pantilimon (Watford) featured in any of the top six European leagues last season.
Perhaps their brightest spark is Florin Andone, whose 21 goals in the Segunda Division helped Cordoba secure promotion to La Liga for 2016-17.
The 23-year-old forward is paying $21 at Bet365.com to open the scoring at Stade de France.
Match betting picks
– France to win both halves ($3.10 at William Hill)
– Correct score 3-0 ($7.50 at Sportsbet)
Off-field dramas aside, the French have way too much quality.
Griezmann, Pogba, Martial, Payet, Coman – those guys will run rings around world-beaters.
They should destroy a Romanian side that finished second to Northern Ireland in one of the softest Euro qualifying groups in recent memory.
Antoine Griezmann Euro 2016 bets
– Anytime goalscorer ($2.22 at CrownBet)
– First goalscorer ($5 at Sportsbet)
– To score in both halves ($21 at William Hill)
After another stellar season with Atletico Madrid, many pundits and punters see Griezmann as the key to France’s Euro chances.
The bookies seem to agree, as he is among the favourites for both the top goalscorer gong ($15) and the UEFA Player of the Tournament award ($17) at William Hill.
Even in a forward line full of quality, the Atleti star’s speed, skill and lethal finishing make him a standout.
He will be especially keen to get back on the scoreboard and erase the memories of his costly penalty miss in last month’s Champions League final.