The highly anticipated 2016 European Championship kicks off on Friday as hosts France take on Romania at Stade de France.

Les Bleus have been made odds-on favourites to claim maximum points, but it remains to be seen how they will cope with the pressure of expectations.

Didier Deschamps and his men have had two years to properly prepare for the Euro 2016 and attempt to win the third major competition on home soil.

As the Euro 1984 and 1998 World Cup trophies would suggest, Les Bleus enjoy playing in front of the home fans and that is one of the reasons why many consider them the main candidates for the trophy this time out.

The other is sheer strength of their team, which boasts a pretty good team spirit as well as plenty of individual talent and players like Pogba, Griezmann, Payet and Matuidi.

France have looked thoroughly impressive up front of late, defeating the likes of Netherlands, Russia, Cameroon and Scotland, bagging 13 goals in the process.

However, they have also experienced problems at the back with both Raphael Varane and Mamadou Sakho missing, although the clean sheet in the dress rehearsal vs Scotland was a welcoming change.

Seeing as how Les Bleus will be looking to attack Romania from the off, we see good value in odds of 1.95 (19/20) offered on France to win half-time/full-time.

Morgan Schneiderlin was drafted into the squad as Lassana Diarra withdrew, while N’Golo Kante appears to have nailed down a starting berth.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Lloris – Sagna, Rami, Koscielny, Evra – Pogba, Kante, Matuidi – Griezmann, Giroud, Payet.

Having enjoyed very little success in the 21st century, Romania did well to qualify for the Euro 2016 finals, although they do not seem to deserve to be playing at this level.

Namely, the Tricolorii were placed in by far the weakest group in the qualifying campaign and even though they finished unbeaten, they did not exactly impress in the process.

Anghel Iordanescu’s risk-free approach was the main reason behind the near-perfect defensive record, but it also created huge problems up front.

As a result, Romania face massive issues in attack, while the dressing room atmosphere is far from impressive, so we don’t think they will enjoy a successful Euro 2016 tournament.

Following two under-par results, the Tricolorii defeated weak Georgia 5-1, but they now face a whole different ball game.

Key defender Vlad Chiriches should return after recovering from injury, while Florin Andone should start up front despite struggling on international stage.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Tatarusanu – Sapunaru, Chiriches, Grigore, Rat – Pintilii, Hoban – Adrian Popa, Stanciu, Stancu – Andone.