Sitting in second place in the standings Belarus have a great chance to further close the gap behind France by beating them for the second time in this qualifying campaign. Following the opening home defeat to Belarus, les Bleus won next four games and fifth successive win would see them virtually clinch the first place in Group D.

Unbelievable selection problems for Belarus

Boasting a lot of talented youngsters and with their youth teams constantly recording impressive results, Belarus are a team with a lot of potential, although they have yet to fulfill the expectations. Bernd Stange’s side started this qualifying campaign brightly, having beaten France away in their opening game, but goalless draws against Romania and Luxembourg, as well as the defeat to Albania showed that the team are not yet ready to mount a serious challenge for a place at the final tournament. Belarus still sit in second place in the group and they have a chance to cement it with another win over France, but that looks like a mission impossible considering all the problems coach Stange is set to face. The experienced tactician will be missing no less than eight first team regulars, which is definitely a big blow for a coach who doesn’t have such a big squad to choose from.

Dmitri Molosh, Aleksandr Kulchiy and Sergei Kornilenko are all suspended while Aleksandr Hleb, Vitali Kutuzov, Sergei Krivets, Vitali Rodionov and Anton Amelchenko miss out through injury.

France doing well under Laurent Blanc

I can safely say that the whole world, let alone all French fans were glad to see Raymond Domenech’s back following yet another disappointing tournament and while French Federation chiefs had clearly made the wrong decision in handing the reigns to the eccentric coach, they have made amends for it by appointing talented Laurent Blanc as his replacement. The former Bordeaux coach was not afraid to leave out several key players who were well past their prime and has built a side with a lot of talent and potential. That has produced excellent results as France have played five great games in the Euro 2012 qualifiers, even if they have been unlucky to lose the opening game to Belarus. Les Bleus now have a lot of motives to get revenge on Bernd Stange’s side, so we can expect another convincing performance from Laurent Blanc’s side.

Eric Abidal returns to the side after missing the last few games, while Ligue 1 assists leader Marvin Martin has received his first call-up.

Verdict

Belarus clearly don’t look capable of matching in-form France side, especially with no less than eight first team regulars missing from the squad. Les Bleus are brimming with confidence at the moment and I expect them to record a big win in Belarus.

Our prediction: France with -1 Asian handicap

Odds: 2.00 (1/1)

Bookmaker: 188BET