France predicted XI v Germany: Rayan Cherki to start, Ibrahima Konaté dropped | OneFootball

France take on Germany this Sunday at 3pm CET in Stuttgart for the UEFA Nations League third-place playoff. Both Les Bleus and Die Mannschaft want to finish on a high after respectively losing to Spain and Portugal. France manager Didier Deschamps has many injuries to deal with. PSG strikers Ousmane Dembélé and Bradley Barcola have pulled out of the squad, whereas centre-back Clément Lenglet is also out.

With so few players available, Deschamps is expected to field an experimental defense again in front of Mike Maignan. Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konaté trained on his own yesterday, so it will be a surprise to see him starting. Pierre Kalulu, who had a nightmare debut outing against La Roja, is not expected to start either. In these conditions, Sevilla’s Loïc Badé and PSG’s Lucas Hernandez should compose France’s duo at the back. On the flanks, Chelsea’s Malo Gusto will start opposite Aston Villa’s Lucas Digne.

Fortunately for Deschamps, Real Madrid midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni is available for selection. According to L’Equipe, the former Monaco man will start alongside Marseille’s Adrien Rabiot in a double pivot. Further up the field, Rayan Cherki is set to be given his first senior start in a No. 10 role after a brilliant cameo off the bench against Spain.

Up front, Deschamps is set to stick with Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé as a centre-forward. On the wings, the France manager is set to field two centre-forwards in Inter’s Marcus Thuram and Juventus’ Randal Kolo Muani, which leaves Désiré Doué and Michael Olise as back-ups.

France likely line-up v Germany

Mike Maignan; Malo Gusto, Loïc Badé, Lucas Hernandez, Lucas Digne; Aurélien Tchouaméni, Rayan Cherki, Adrien Rabiot; Randal Kolo Muani, Kylian Mbappé, Marcus Thuram. (L’Éq)

GFFN | Bastien Cheval