H2H: Albania vs. France – Prediction (EURO Qualification

Preview and Teams Comparison.

Though now out of contention for the European Championship qualification (ECQ) play-offs, Albania are hoping to complete a four-game unbeaten run at home in the competition, for what would be the first time since 2003. Encouragingly, they have failed to score in just three of their last 15 ECQ home fixtures. Sokol Çikalleshi has been Albania’s first goal-scorer with three of his four ECQ goals this campaign. Three of Albania’s four ECQ wins this campaign have come with a cleansheet, which has also been the case in ten of their last 12 ECQ wins. Furthermore, only two of Albania’s last six ECQ home games have seen goals at both ends, while each of the other four have featured under 2.5 goals.

Each of Albania’s four ECQ home matches this campaign have seen the same result at both half-time and full-time. Each of the five historical ECQ H2Hs saw France lead ‘to-nil’ at half-time. Over half (20) of France’s last 34 ECQ away matches have seen at least one side fail to score.

France come into this game after winning their last two ECQ away fixtures without conceding a single goal. Furthermore, ‘Les Bleus’ have kept a cleansheet in all but three of their last 12 ECQ away victories, and further to that, France have scored at least twice in 11 of those 12 wins. France striker Olivier Giroud has scored exactly once in four of his country’s last five ECQ games, with the last three coming after the hour mark. The reasons to back France pile up yet further, with the visitors losing just two of their last 34 ECQ away matches (W22, D10, L2). Regardless of how this goes, however, fans can expect early action, as three of France’s last four ECQ road trips have produced at least one goal inside the opening half-hour.