Almost a year ago to the day, Albania beat France for the first time in their history. The performance by Didier Deschamps' side in a 1-0 defeat was described as 'lacklustre', 'listless', 'worrying' and 'far from convincing' by the press, who were starting to doubt Les Bleus' credentials to win a Euros on home soil, given that it was their third defeat in four friendlies.
However, fast forward twelve months from that loss and France extended their run to one defeat in the subsequent 11 matches with a last-gasp Euro 2016 opening victory over Romania courtesy of Dmitri Payet's magnificent goal.
They were far from perfect, but given they haven't played a competitive match for two years it was hardly a surprise.
As for Albania, they have to do without suspended captain Lorik Cana after his sending off in the disappointing defeat to Switzerland, in which coach Gianni De Biasi was furious at the missed chances by his side. The feeling is that Deschamps' team are moving through the gears and Albania could be in for a tough night.
TEAM NEWS
France coach Didier Deschamps is expected to stick with the same team that beat Romania in their opening match.
If he does decide to make changes to keep his squad fresh, Moussa Sissoko could be drafted into the midfield.
Albania are without captain Lorik Cana after he was sent off in their opening match against Switzerland.
Arlind Ajeti or Frederic Veseli are vying to replace him in central defence.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- France have won four of the six matches they have played against Albania but have failed to win either of the last two meetings.
- Ergys Kace's free-kick effort helped Albania to a 1-0 victory over France when they last met in June 2015.
- Albania have never scored more than once in a game against France (three goals scored in six matches).
France
- Their overall record in 13 games in Marseille is W6 D3 L4.
- Les Bleus have played at this venue twice before in the European Championships. They lost 2-0 to Czechoslovakia in 1960, but beat Portugal 3-2 in the 1984 semi-finals.
- France have won their last six games on home soil in the European Championship finals (five in 1984, one in 2016).
- France have only kept two clean sheets in their last 17 games at European Championship finals (against Romania in 2008 and Ukraine in 2012).
- Olivier Giroud has scored eight goals in his last six starts for France.
- France's five shots on target (including their two goals) in the opening game against Romania all came in the second-half.
- Dimitri Payet created eight chances against the Romanians - only three players had created more in a Euros game since 1980 (Ozil, 9 v Greece in 2012, McAllister, 10 v Germany in 1992 and Sneijder, 10 v Denmark in 2012).
Albania
- Albania have lost their last two internationals - they've not lost three in a row since October 2013.
- They are one of two countries making their major tournament debut at Euro 2016 along with Iceland.
- Albania are the fourth team to be shown a red card in their debut at a Euros (England 1968, Netherlands 1976 and Bulgaria 1996).
- Etrit Berisha made six saves against Switzerland, more than he did in any of the Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Possible line-ups
France: Lloris; Sagna, Rami, Koscielny, Evra; Kanté, Matuidi; Coman, Payet, Martial; Giroud.
Albania: Berisha; Hysaj, Ajeri, Mavraj, Agolli; Kukeli, Xhaka; Roshi, Abrashi, Lenjani; Sadiku.
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