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Austriavs.France

sportsmole.co.uk, 15 June 2024, 08:22
France attacker Kylian Mbappe has seemingly emerged unscathed from an injury scare as Les Bleus prepare to tackle Austria in their Euro 2024 Group D opener in Dusseldorf on Monday.

The Real Madrid new boy suffered a blow to the knee in the recent friendly success over Luxembourg, but he is now back on the practice pitches and is primed to start on the left at the Merkur Spiel-Arena.

Kingsley Coman should be fine to play second fiddle to Mbappe despite coming down with a cold in midweek, but Aurelien Tchouameni's foot injury should render him unavailable for a little while longer.

With Tchouameni unable to take part, Juventus lynchpin Adrien Rabiot is expected to form the double pivot alongside the returning N'Golo Kante, whose exceptional form at Al-Ittihad earned him a surprise call-up for the Euros.

Antoine Griezmann - another member of the old guard - will pull the strings in the most advanced midfield role as ever, joining Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Marcus Thuram as the attacking quartet; all-time top scorer Olivier Giroud must wait his turn.

While one Hernandez brother in Lucas Hernandez is absent from another major tournament with a knee injury, his sibling Theo Hernandez is fine to bomb down the left, while Jules Kounde of Barcelona takes up right-back duties.

Despite initial suggestions that Ibrahima Konate and Dayot Upamecano were set to pair up in front of Mike Maignan, Deschamps has apparently had a late change of heart and will put his faith in Arsenal's William Saliba after all, demoting the Liverpool man to the bench in the process.

France possible starting lineup:

Maignan; Kounde, Saliba, Upamecano, Hernandez; Kante, Rabiot; Dembele, Griezmann, Mbappe; Thuram

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