France v Mexico

Group A is finely poised with all four teams drawing their opening matches and this could lead to another round of close, defensive matches.

France have not been living up to expectations for years now and a loss here could put them effectively out of the competition, and it was Mexico who looked the biggest attacking threat of the two teams in the first group games.

France v Mexico Match Odds

Match betting is a massively popular market and the first market most punters choose to look at as your decision in this market is likely to impact all other bets you place on the game.

BACK THE DRAW

Whichever side you are backing in this game you are going to get pretty decent odds and it really does look to be one of those games that could go either way. A case can be made for backing either team or taking on either team and at the end of the day it may be best to back the draw with neither side having an outstanding claim for victory.

France v Mexico Asian Handicap Odds

The Asian Handicap is an interesting bet as it usually gives one team a lead that should be enough to cancel out any superiority the favourites for the game have.

BACK MEXICO +0.25

The odds for Mexico in the asian handicap look very generous here, we do think the game will be a draw but the way the teams have been playing if either side was to win it would probably be Mexico, so the fact we can back them with a head start in the asian handicap makes them look a very good bet.

France v Mexico Goals Odds

Take a look at recent results for the two sides to help decide what the best bets are in the over/under betting and also the correct score market.

France Recent Competitive Results

Mexico Recent Competitive Results

World Cup 2010 Results So Far

BACK A 1-1 DRAW AND UNDER 2.5 GOALS

France were low scorers and conceders in their qualifying campaign, a total of seven out of their twelve qualifiers had under 2.5 goals and although that might not seem that high, bearing in mind how weak some teams in qualifying were you would expect a team of France's calibre to be putting three or four goals past most of these teams. Away from home they were particularly low scoring, in five of their six away games they scored exactly one goal.

Mexico's qualifying form has to be taken with a slight pinch of salt considering some of the opposition so it is best to look at their games against the stronger opposition, namely USA and Honduras who were the other two teams to qualify from their section. In six qualifying games against these two teams three games had over 2.5 goals and three had over 2.5 goals, fairly inconclusive but it does show that Mexico are well capable of scoring and conceding goals.

With France often being involved in low scoring games this looks set to be a game that ends up with under 2.5 goals, but only just. Under 2.5 goals is worth a bet in this fixture but the best goals bet could and should be a correct score bet on 1-1, which looks the most likley of the scorelines.

France v Mexico Player Odds

Some of the most fun markets to bet on are the player markets, such as first goalscorer and anytime goalscorer. They are usually relatively big odds and can give plenty of reward if you pick correctly.

France v Mexico Team News

France will be looking to their stars such as Franck Ribery to win them this vital Group A clash so it is vital he is fit, and striker Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry and Andre-Pierre Gignac will all be needed to provide goals for France so having at least two of them fit will be necessary. Mexico will have to be at full strength for this tie which means Andres Guardado, Carlos Vela and Giovani Dos Santos will all need to be playing and playing well for Mexico.

BACK ANDRES GUARDADO TO SCORE FIRST

The top goalscorers for France in qualifying were Andre-Pierre Gignac and Thierry Henry, who both picked up four goals. A decent return for both but hardly on the prolific side. It is likely that one or the other will be France's goalscorer in this game but they may end up having to come from behind so either player in the anytime goalscorer market would appeal more than first goalscorer, of the two slight preference is for Gignac who will be doing his best to secure a big money move this summer.

For Mexico it is a similar story, they don't have one main man who scores the majority of their goals, in qualifying they had six joint top goalscorers, all with three goals. The pick of those players could be Andres Guardado, who looks a player with a big future and he will be looking to make a big impression at the World Cup 2010, we make him the best bet in the first goalscorer betting for this game.

France v Mexico Half Time Odds

The latest tips that include the half time result in them, some of the most popular bets here are half time result and half time/full time.

BACK DRAW / DRAW IN THE HALF TIME/ FULL TIME BETTING

This looks very likely to be a tight, low scoring game, and there is almost as much chance of this finishing 0-0 and there is of it finishing 1-1. With that in mind there are many permutations that can result in this match being a draw at both half time and full time and with all of those in our favour the half time / full time bet on draw / draw looks a very worthwhile bet.

France v Mexico Best Bet

BACK UNDER 2.5 GOALS

There are several good bets in this game involving low scoring outcomes but one bet that includes them all is the under 2.5 goals bet. This game should be very tight and there is loads at stake so the chances of there being three or more goals look very slim, and the odds on there being two or less goals look very generous.