Thursday Football Tips: Back Giroud and Mbappe in Les Bleus Bet Builder

France v Austria
Thursday 22 September
19:45 BST kick-off

Without a win in their four Nations League games so far this campaign, France are in real trouble of suffering a humiliating relegation as they host Austria in Paris.

Just a couple of months before they defend their World Cup title in Qatar, France have all sorts of problems for Didier Deschamps to sort out, both on and off the pitch.

Kylian Mbappe is fighting against the French Football Federation over his image rights, and along with the unrest in the squad there are plenty of injuries - including another troubled star in Paul Pogba.

Deschamps is without the likes of Karim Benzema, Hugo Lloris,, N'Golo Kante, Kingsley Coman, Lucas Hernandez, Theo Hernandez and Presnel Kimpembe as they look to save themselves from Nations League relegation.

Having drawn 1-1 in Austria and Croatia, Les Bleus have also lost both home games so far against Denmark and Croatia, leaving them in this precarious position.

France are still big favourites to win the game though despite all their problems, and having the likes of Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Aurelien Tchouameni, Jules Kounde and Raphael Varane available shows the crazy strength and depth they have.

Austria were just seven minutes or so away from beating France in the first game, and a win for them would guarantee their place in the top flight Nations League and condem the French to relegation.

Mbappe will take all the headlines and a lot of the bets, and it's not hard to see why after 13 goals in his last 18 internationals - and he's just Evens to strike again here.

This is a big game for Olivier Giroud, who is fighting for a place at the World Cup and can get extra minutes here with Benzema injured to improve his super impressive scoring record.

He's got 45 goals in 98 games for France, including four in his last five, and with so much on the line you have to fancy him to find the net at 11/10 anytime.

For Austria, Marko Arnautovic has been flying in Serie A this season with six goals in seven for Bologna so if France are still struggling then he could deliver a goal at 11/4.

I do think you need to side with the hosts here, and with Giroud and Mbappe such short prices to score, playing their shots on target looks a better value play.

France had 15 shots with seven on target in Austria in June even after the end of a long, hard season, so they should be able to at least match that.

Mbappe has had multiple shots on target in seven of his last nine for PSG and in three of his last four starts for France.

Giroud will be on a mission here to book his place to Qatar and he's been in good form for Milan - scoring in three straight games with five shots on target.

There's plenty of creativity in the France side and Giroud's proven time and again he can score goals and hit the target on the international stage.

Backing both men to have 2+ shots on target looks a decent Bet Builder option for this one.