International Friendly: How to watch France vs Bulgaria live June 8, 2021

Topics: TV Schedules, TV Listings, Streaming, Friendly, France, Bulgaria

France will look to draw the curtains on their Euro preparations by hosting Bulgaria on Tuesday.

Preview

France will conclude their preparations for Euro 2020 on Tuesday when they host Bulgaria at the Stade de France for a friendly encounter. Les Bleus managed a 3-0 win in their most recent clash against a 10-man Wales side while Bulgaria's poor away form continued following a 1-0 defeat to Russia in a separate clash.

Tipped as favorites to win the upcoming finals, Didier Deschamps' charges will be eager to end their sparring session on a high with group meetings with Germany, Portugal and Hungary just around the corner. The amount of top talents in their ranks have been fairly complimented with a remarkable form. Across the last two years, the World Cup winners have lost just two games, drawing three and winning 15 games. But ahead of Tuesday's meeting with Bulgaria, they will look to improve their home form that has seen them record just two wins from the last five in familiar territories.

Needless to say, that should not deter the Euro 2016 runners-up from putting up a good fight against the Lions with their superior head-to-head advantage there to serve as a guide. In 22 meetings between the pair, Les Bleus have been victorious 10 times and have been held to stalemates on four occasions.

Coach Yasen Petrov's men will, however, be out to prove a point despite their recent shortcomings. Having failed to qualify for the European championship, they will be featuring in their third international friendly when they are hosted by France. It has been well over two-and-a-half years since Bulgaria last managed to win away from home and considering the pedigree of the opponent they come up against, a win does not look likely on Tuesday.

The Lions enter the encounter on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Russia. The result extended their winless run to seven in all competitions. So far, they are without an away win in over two and a half years. Since the beginning of 2020, they have only managed one win across 14 outings. In the process, they failed to book a place at Euro 2020 and also suffered relegation in the Nations League. As to whether they have what it takes to upset the bookies' predictions remain to be seen.

Team news

France's ranks have been bolstered by the returns of Kurt Zouma, Olivier Giroud and N'Golo Kante following their triumphant exploits in the Champions League with Chelsea. Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez were withdrawn from the game against Wales after picking up injuries but should be fine to feature in the clash with Bulgaria.

For the visitors, midfielder Kristiyan Malinov will be amiss after picking up an injury just nine minutes into the game with Russia. Atanas Iliev and Bozhidar Kraev could return to the first starting lineup after missing out in the previous outing.

Predicted starting XI

France: Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Kimpembe, Digne; Kante, Pogba, Rabiot; Griezmann; Mbappe, Giroud
Bulgaria: Mihaylov; A. Hristov, Bozhikov, Antov; Turitsov, Chochev, Vitanov, Tsvetanov; Despodov, Kraev; Iliev.