England Women vs France Women Prediction: Expect goals on the Tyne

Reigning champions England host France at St James' Park on Friday (ITV4, 20:00) for a Euro 2025 qualifier, which pits the top two sides of Group A3 against one another. Les Bleues are top with two victories over Sweden and the Republic of Ireland, while England were held to a draw with the Scandinavian side before beating Ireland.

This will be a test of where Sarina Wiegman's side are at in preparation for next year's tournament, as they look to bounce back from their World Cup final defeat to Spain last summer. Read on for my England Women vs France Women prediction, accompanied by team news and match odds.

England Women vs France Women Odds

England are priced at 11/10 to win this match, which gives them a 47.6% chance of victory. France are valued at 21/10, giving them an implied probability of 32.3%. The draw can be backed at 9/4 (30.8%).

Both teams to score is on offer at 4/6 and over 2.5 goals is 5/6.

Team News

Following an injury to Niamh Charles, Maya Le Tissier has come into England's 23-player squad after being on standby. Lotte Wubben-Moy is also the other big injury miss for the Lionesses.

With this being the first set of international fixtures since Rachel Daly's retirement, Alex Greenwood should slot in at left-back, while captain Leah Williamson and Mille Bright should link up at centre-back.

Young Chelsea striker Aggie Beever-Jones will be hoping to make her England debut after a stunning campaign with the Blues in the Women's Super League.

France have no fresh concerns heading into Friday's fixture.

Draw and both teams to score @ 16/5

I am leaning towards a draw here because England are coming up against the toughest opponent in their group, and who have taken maximum points so far. There is a lot of quality on both sides so I'm sure there will be no shortage of goals.

The likes of Lauren James, Alessia Russo, Beth Mead and Ella Toone will carry a huge attacking threat for the Lionesses, so it won't be surprising to see any one of them get on the scoresheet here.

Since the World Cup, where we first started seeing some cracks in England's defence, Wiegman's back line has not appeared to be as resolute as when she first took the post, when the Lionesses have been playing the bigger nations. France will know about this and they will look to exploit that in Newcastle.

With this being the first game in a long time without Daly at left-back, we can expect France to target Greenwood's side to unlock England's defence, and I can see them having such joy.

It should be a cracking contest between two teams of high calibre, and with that in mind, I am backing for the result to be a draw as I do see them cancelling one another out.

Over 3.5 goals @ 9/4

This leads into my next selection. Given the talent that both teams have at their disposal, there should be no shortage of goals on the Tyne on Friday night. Having listed some of the most dangerous attackers for the Lionesses above, the home side have more than enough quality to score a couple here. As do the visitors, with Wendie Renard and Marie-Antoinette Katoto having already netted in this campaign.

As for France, they are yet to score more than once in their qualifiers so far, having beaten both Sweden and Ireland by a solitary goal. However, I do see them having the creativity to unlock England's back line, which as I said earlier, has been prone to mistakes or being easy to penetrate at times in the past year.

It's still early days but we are looking at the two sides most likely to come out of this Group as the winners, so this game, as well as the reverse meeting in France, will serve as a huge test for both of them.

The onus will be on the Lionesses as the hosts, and a packed-out crowd should help spur them on, but don't underestimate the will to maintain a 100% winning record from Les Bleues.

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