Ibrahima Konaté to replace William Saliba for France against Poland, Bradley Barcola to start | OneFootball

France head coach Didier Deschamps is expected to shuffle his pack tonight against Poland with Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konaté (25) set to start at the expense of William Saliba (23), according to France Info. The Arsenal defender started both France games so far at the Euros and was near faultless against Austria (1-0) and The Netherlands (0-0) alongside Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano. France are yet to concede a goal in Germany, although their only strike so far came from an own goal from Austria’s Maximilian Wöber.

On his decision to bench Ibrahima Konaté for Les Bleus’ opener against Austria, Deschamps felt that Saliba was “more ready“ than the Liverpool centre-back for a game of this magnitude. Logically enough, the France head coach renewed his faith in Saliba and Upamecano against The Netherlands. With France mathematically qualified for the R016 stage, does Konaté’s recall, tonight at Dortmund against Poland, mean Saliba would be rested in preparation for the first game of the knock-out phase, or has Deschamps decided that the Arsenal man’s time is up already?

Ibrahima Konaté won’t be the only outfield to make his debut at the Euros tonight for France. France Info and RMC Sport understand that PSG striker Bradley Barcola (21) will start tonight against Poland. Considering Kylian Mbappé (25) will make his return to the fore, Barcola is set to play on the left wing with Ousmane Dembélé (27) on the right. Barcola’s debut means that Marcus Thuram (26) will be benched.

GFFN | Bastien Cheval