Match: France v Sweden
Date: 11 November, Friday
Time: 3:45am SGT (Saturday)/1:15am IST (Saturday)/7:45pm GMT
Competition: 2018 Fifa World Cup Qualifier
Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris
TV Channel: In Singapore, the live TV coverage will be on Eleven Sports Singapore.
Overview
France host Sweden in the Group A clash of the European leg of 2018 Fifa World Cup Qualifier in Paris on 11 November.
Both teams are sitting pretty at the top of the group, with seven points and same goal difference after having won two games and drawn one each in the three they have played so far.
Les Bleus, who had 2016 European Championship heartbreak at home by losing a closely-fought final at home, opened their qualifying campaign with an uninspiring goalless draw against Belarus in September. However, they bounced back to crush Bulgaria 4-1 before they edged out group heavyweights Netherlands 1-0 last month.
Antoine Griezmann and Dimitri Payet have been delivering the goods for Didier Deschamps' side. Paul Pogba, who found the back of the net in Manchester United's 3-1 win against Swansea City on 6 November, is looking good to add to his tally. Notably, the 23-year-old scored the winner for France against the Netherlands.
An in-form Kevin Gameiro who netted a brace against Bulgaria will also add firepower to the frontline which is expected to do the trick for the home side on Friday. With an all-round squad, which also has the likes of Chelsea star N'Golo Kante and Arsenal duo of Olivier Giroud and Laurent Laurent Koscielny, at his disposal, Deschamps will be looking to take control of the group with a win.
On the other hand, Kevin Anderson's squad is slowly still finding its foot after the retirement of its talismanic striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Andreas Isaksson also stepped down from the international scene taking the sheen out of the Sweden squad, who were impressive in their Euro campaign.
However, they have been defensively disciplined and have only conceded only goal so far in the tournament. Anderson will rely on his backline to prevent the impressive French attack from running riot in Paris.
TV Schedule
US: ESPN 2
India: Sony ESPN
Bangladesh: Sony ESPN
France: TF1
Malaysia: Astro Supersport
Japan: Fuji TV Next
France
Possible XI: Lloris; Sidibe, Varane, Koscielny, Digne; Pogba, Matuidi; Sissoko, Griezmann, Payet; Gameiro
Sweden
Possible XI: Olsen; Krafth, Lindelof, Granqvist, Wendt; Durmaz, Hiljemark, Ekdal, Forsberg; Guidetti, Toivonen
