After an agonisingly two days of zero football, the 2018 World Cup is back with a bang as Uruguay and France kick-off the quarter-finals at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.
The build-up has predominantly focused on the fitness of Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani whose brace secured his country a 2-1 victory over Portugal in the last-16.
But the PSG player has not completely recovered from the injury he sustained in the victory, as he starts on the bench for the crunch clash, with Cristhian Stuani taking his place in what is the only change for Oscar Tabarez’s men.
Didier Deschamps has also just made the one change to his starting-11, bringing in Corentin Tolisso for Blaise Matuidi.
The two countries last locked horns five years ago in an international friendly, which Uruguay won 1-0. In fact La Celeste have only ever lost one of their eight clashes with France, which came back in 1985 in the Inter Continental Championship. In terms of World Cup encounters they’ve men twice, with Uruguay winning 2-1 back in 1966, while they played out a goalless draw eight years ago.
France haven’t lost any of their last night matches against South American sides at the World Cup, and Deschamps’ men have been installed as the 11/10 favourites to win in 90 minutes, and 4/9 to qualify, while they can be backed at 8/1 to win in extra-time.
Uruguay’s quarter-final final record is actually pretty decent, with La Celeste winning five of their six last-8 matches at the showcase spectacle, while they’re bidding to reach their second semi-final in eight years under Tabarez, with his troops priced at 7/4 to achieve this feat and 7/2 to win in normal time. Alternatively, a draw perhaps looks the way to go at 11/5, with a 1-1 scoreline catching the eye at 11/2.
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