1 week Ago
France will once again be without the services of star man Kylian Mbappe for Thursday's UEFA Nations League clash with Israel at the Stade de France. For the second successive international break, Mbappe has been omitted from the senior France squad by manager Didier Deschamps , who has insisted that the Real Madrid forward's absence "is for the best" . Youssouf Fofana and Alphonse Areola has also been left out of Les Bleus' squad, while Wesley Fofana , Loic Bade and Aurelien Tchouameni are all sidelined with injuries - the latter is also suspended for Thursday's fixture.
Highly-rated Lille goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier has earned his first senior international call-up, but he is not expected to displace Mike Maignan between the sticks, while Benjamin Pavard - who had missed out on the last three squads - has returned and is set to battle with both Jules Kounde and Jonathan Clauss for a start at right-back. Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate and Arsenal's William Saliba have started together in central defence for three of France's four Nations League matches and they could once again link arms at the back on Thursday, while Theo Hernandez will be pushing to start ahead of Lucas Digne at left-back. Al Ittihad's N'Golo Kante and Marseille's Adrien Rabiot have both returned to the France squad this month and at least one of those could start in centre-midfield alongside Eduardo Camavinga .
Manu Kone , Warren Zaire-Emery and Matteo Guendouzi - who scored in France's 4-1 win over Israel last month - are also in contention to start. Randal Kolo Muani has scored four goals in his last four appearances for France and could continue as the central striker in Mbappe's absence, while Ousmane Dembele , Marcus Thuram , Bradley Barcola , Michael Olise and Christopher Nkunku will al battle for the remaining attacking spots up for grabs. France possible starting lineup: Maignan; Kounde, Konate, Saliba, Hernandez; Kante, Camavinga; Dembele, Olise, Barcola; Kolo Muani.
