Best bets, predictions and preview of Argentina vs France

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The 2022 World Cup final will see Argentina face France. Tom Carnduff has found a total of five best bets to fall back.

Football betting tips: World Cup Final

2.5 points as Lionel Messi gets a +1 aggregate fault at 7/10 (Unibet)

1.5 points Nicolas Otamendi over 78.5 assists in 13/8 (PIT 365)

1 point Enzo Fernandez over 70.5 passes at 7/4 (bet 365)

0.5 points Enzo Fernandez over 80.5 passes on 13/2 (bet 365)

0.5 Nahuel Molina points for a score at any time at 28/1 (CoinBet)

Sky Bet Odds | Buddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

So here we are. France hopes to become the third country to hold the World Cup when they face Argentina in the 2022 final at Lusail Stadium in Qatar.

Didier Deschamps overcame the absence of key figures before and during the tournament to lead the French national team to the final, while Argentina came back from a shock defeat by Saudi Arabia in the first round and has not lost since.

It is a rare occasion for two finalists to go head-to-head after losing a tournament match. Context is key for both though, with France already qualified with top spot essentially guaranteed and Argentina not being so lucky in that opening competition.

Odds of 10/11 on either option in the “raise the cup” market accurately reflect how balanced these two teams are. This is a really interesting finality, and in it you will find a whole host of opinions on how to define it.

Kick-off time: 15:00 GMT, SundayTV Channel: BBC One

Even Infogol’s performance-based model struggles to separate the two teams in a key way – France is favored by a slim 2% margin.

La Albiceleste deserves great credit for how they got through the knockout stages, with Lionel Scaloni and his team successfully adjusting their own style to match that of their opponent and succeeding in the main fights.

Jake Osgathorpe introduced a penalty shootout for Argentina at 7/1 in his live preview, and you agreed from the start that this was their tournament – performances all the time have only increased that confidence.

It’s especially on the defensive side of things, as they’ve only conceded 2.47 xGA over their six matches – very different from the 7.37 xGA France has suffered up to this point.

This will be a major factor if Lionel Messi – nominated by Liam Kelly on 1/12 ahead of the tournament and who is now the 1/5 favorite – ends his dream and lifts the World Cup to his country.

If they wanted to do that, you would imagine it would be in a match where France would allow Argentina to have the majority of the ball. Recent tours have proven this to be the path to success for Les Bleus.

They had 43% of the ball against England and Morocco saw 61% despite the fact that they were apparently happy to go without reaching the semi-finals.

Not only that, but Croatia had 66% possession in the 2018 final – that’s a comfortable way for France to play and there’s no reason to think they’ll go far from that here.

Croatia had 528 passes in that game as well and I’m happy to expect Argentina to have a lot of chances to move the ball around. With that in mind, there are a few traffic lines that offer appeal.

The first of which is center back focus, Nicolas Otamendi takes over 78.5 passes at 13/8.

Otamendi saw at least 80 pass attempts in five of his six matches in the tournament, the only match that failed was the semi-final victory over Croatia.

Should Argentina face a side passive enough for France, Otamendi will be given plenty of time to complete a few passes for his teammates, and backing him up to score 79 in the 90th minute appears to be a solid play.

Another Argentina player to focus on is ENZO FERNANDEZ, with over 70.5 passes in the 7/4 and over 80.5 passes in the 13/2 line to focus on.

He is expected to sit in the Argentine midfield again, and should be the one to drop deeper to take the ball from the defensive line.

Fernandez is another player who excelled at measuring passing, with no fewer than 70 tries in three out of his four tournament matches.

He marked a massive total of 100 in the round of 16 victory over Australia, while being 94 when they beat Poland in their final group match. The 70.5 line looks safer, but 80.5 is likely to come as well.

In the 2018 final, Croatian defensive midfielder Marcelo Brozović had 98 pass attempts, 84 of which were completed as the game was counted out in normal time.

There will be a lot of focus on Messi for obvious reasons, and we can expect him to contribute in attack by providing a constant threat in the forward areas.

He has scored five goals (5.53×G) off 28 shots in the tournament, but has scored high numbers in another category and that unlocks value in this competition.

BEST PRICE 7/10, MESSI TO HAVE 1+ FOULS WORKS IN 90 MINUTES.

The striker has seen at least one foul in four of his six World Cup appearances, with the total against the Netherlands and Mexico three times each.

Occasion also plays a role here, with both sides desperately seeking victory and this would result in some crossing the mark at times. It will also be nervous, so mistakes will be common.

There were 26 fouls in the last final, and Argentina also made 15 in their semi-final victory over Croatia. The same number was posted against the Netherlands – all three of Messi’s mistakes in that match came in normal time.

As it is such a big occasion I am happy to gamble on an expensive scorer and take NAHUEL MOLINA anytime at the best rate of 28/1.

The right-back found the net in the quarter-final against the Netherlands, and Theo Hernandez should sit on the left side of France’s defence, giving Molina chances to come late.

Hernandez is strong going forward but dubious defensively and if he continues himself down the field there will be gaps for the Argentine right side to exploit.

Molina has shown he can make the most of these opportunities, and there is confidence for him to take advantage of a hefty price tag.

This looks like a contest that will take more than 90 minutes to determine the winner, two evenly matched teams who deserve more than their place in the final.

Argentina have shown their flexibility to match opposition and this could put them in a great position as they look to be crowned world champions once again.

Those looking for a result should keep in mind that the main markets will only be 90 minutes, and there is little difference in the odds of lifting the cup.

Alternatively, there are a number of gamers who are making appeal in various other markets, and maintaining their interest in different areas of the game.

It will be an exciting battle between two top quality teams, and a World Cup Final that we hope will match the action we have seen on the pitch over the past month.

Best bets between Argentina and France and predict the score 2.5 points Lionel Messi has +1 total fouls on 7/10 (Unibet) 1.5 points Nicolas Otamendi over 78.5 assists in 13/8 (Bet 365) 1 point Enzo Fernandez on 70.5 assists in 7/4 ( bet365) 0.5 points Enzo Fernandez over 80.5 passes in 13/2 (bet365) 0.5 points Nahuel Molina to score anytime 28/1 (QuinnBet)

Predicted result: Argentina 1-1 France (Sky Bet odds: 5/1)

Odds are correct at 1320 GMT (12/16/22)

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