Football Bet of the Day: France to get back on track ahead of the World Cup

France take part in their final warm-up game before the start of the FIFA World Cup on Monday when they face Northern Ireland in Lille (9:10pm local/8:10pm BST, BBC Two NI/BBC Three/BBC iPlayer).

Les Bleus were left shaken after a 2-1 defeat against Ivory Coast on Thursday, so they will look to lift their spirits before jetting off to North America. It's from this clash that I have selected my Football Bet of the Day, which you can read all about below.

France vs Northern Ireland Odds

Betfred have France as the heavy 1/8 favourites to prevail here and the hosts have won four of their past five fixtures.

The draw can be backed at 13/2, and Northern Ireland's second-to-last outing was a stalemate against Wales.

The visitors are a 14/1 bet to take down the number one ranked side in the world.

France striker Kylian Mbappe is the 7/4 favourite to score first. A goal here would see the attacker join Olivier Giroud as Les Bleus' all-time leading goalscorer with 57.

I'll admit I was drawn to that selection, but I have also wondered if France boss Didier Deschamps might look to preserve his star man after giving him a run out against Ivory Coast.

For this reason, I've decided to seek value for my Bet of the Day elsewhere. The market I have gone for is France to win and Under 3.5 Goals, which is priced at 11/10 (implied probability of 47.6%).

I've selected this because after suffering a defeat last time out, France will not want to head into the World Cup looking weak. I think they will be determined for an improved display against Northern Ireland, and given the gulf in quality between the two sides, the hosts should be able to come away with the victory.

France have four wins from five, so Thursday's loss may prove to just be an anomaly. With the resources at their disposal, they should have no real trouble in defeating Northern Ireland, but the Green and White Army haven't been blown away in each of their previous three losses.

Italy beat them 2-0, while Germany and Slovakia could only manage 1-0 victories. This bodes well for the Under 3.5 Goals leg of the bet. This market has landed in each of the visitors' last seven fixtures coming into Monday's contest.

Fewer than four goals have been scored in two of France's past three outings, while they themselves have scored no more than three goals in each of their four most recent games.

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