Euro Betting – Payet Leads France vs Albania

France (-450) vs Albania (+1500), Draw (+500)

Host nation France (1-0-0, 3 pts) will look for a second straight win at Euro 2016 when they take on Albania (0-1-0, 0 pts) in the second fixture of Group A on Wednesday at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille (3:00 PM Eastern).

France won their first match by beating Romania, 2-1, but they didn’t dominate the game the way most people expected. They looked tentative on the attack and didn’t generate much in the way of scoring chances. A sensational late goal by youngster Dimitri Payet saved the team from a disappointing draw.

Another win against Albania will see the team punch its ticket to the knockout stage. Albania have a strong defense and Payet will need his midfield partner, Paul Pogba, to step up. The Juventus star has yet to show the same level of play with the national team as he demonstrates with his Italian club on a weekly basis.

Albania, meanwhile, were hoping for a better start to their tournament. They fell 1-0 to Switzerland, conceding early and then losing captain Lorik Cana in the 36th minute due to a handball. Once they were down to ten men, they never really threatened the Swiss goal.

That’s not a surprise for the offensively-challenged Albanians. They finished second in their five-team qualification group, but only scored ten goals in eight matches. They’ll rely on their disciplined defense to keep tomorrow’s game scoreless for as long as possible.

France and Albania have faced off six times since 1992. France have dominated the head to head, winning four, drawing one, and losing once. There’s not much value on the French moneyline (-450), but it’s the only reasonable option given the disparity between the teams.

Pick: France (-450).

(Photo Credit: Xavier NALTCHAYAN [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)