How to watch Finland vs France online & on TV, head to head and predictions

Prediction: 1-1
Tip: Both Teams To Score

Key Points:

1. Both teams have good defensive records in qualifying.
2. Neither team scores many goals when you discount France's win over Kazakstan
3. Finland need a win if they want to guarantee a playoff Spot, with France already on the way to Qatar.

Finland will be gunning for an historic win tonight as they welcome the World and Nations League Champions France to Helsinki. They lead third place Ukraine by two points, knowing that if they don't get all three points tonight, and Ukraine beat Bosnia away from home, as Finland themselves did 3-1 with 10 men in their last outing, they will likely leapfrog them and steal their playoff spot.

It's a big ask for Markku Kanerva's side but not an insurmountable one. The Finns have a respectable defensive record in qualifying, having conceded only eight goals from seven games, and they face a French team which is formidable on paper but hasn't actually been very clinical in this group. If you take away their 8-0 thumping of bottom side Kazakhstan from Saturday, they had only managed eight goals in six games prior, which was actually only one more than Finland had before their win in Bosnia.

The two have quite similar records when you disregard France's last result with the only difference being the visitor's stingy defence which has only given up three goals in seven. The hosts will need to summon all their power and probably get a bit of luck to score past Hugo Lloris but if they can do it, they've shown they have the grit to hang on for a win. They did so at the weekend with 10 men, and they also did it in their shocking 2-0 friendly win against this very France side last November.

The main concern for the hosts and something which will definitely please Didier Deschamps will be the absence of captain Tim Sparv and influential defender Jukka Raitala, who is suspended after his tackle on Saed Kolasinac in Bosnia. Finland reacted well to losing Raitala and dug in for the win in that game but a full 90 minutes without two key players will surely be a lot to ask. All time top scorer Teemu Pukki will need to be as clinical as possible if he hopes to capitalise on any rare mistakes made by a defence only bettered in qualifying by Switzerland and Italy.

It's a bold prediction but we see Finland getting a draw here. France will be in cruise control after guaranteeing their trip to Qatar and their star players won't fancy picking up an injury which could negatively impact their club careers. The hosts will stay organised and fight for every loose ball and we see them snatching something from a set piece or a mistake. At the same time, we don't imagine they will keep a clean sheet against the World Champions.