France have been working hard on set pieces and corners as they try and deal with England's threat ahead of their World Cup quarter-final tie on Saturday evening.
The Three Lions have been excellent from set pieces over the past couple of years and are dangerous in those positions thanks to the likes of Harry Maguire and John Stones.
England scored twice from corners at Euro 2020, and although they haven't scored from one at this tournament, Gareth Southgate's side contain a threat.
According to L'Equipe, via Get French Football News, France have been focusing a lot on set pieces to ensure they are as best prepared as possible for the threat England could bring to the table. Maguire has been renowned for being good in the air, having scored some vital goals for the Three Lions over the past few seasons.
Maguire netted in England's quarter-final win over Ukraine in 2021 at the European Championships, after scoring a header against Sweden at the World Cup in Russia. Stones has scored his fare share of goals from set pieces, although he has netted just three times in 63 cap for his country. Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson and Jude Bellingham are also threats from corners and have history of scoring headers for their countries.
Meanwhile, France have had little success from corners this year, with their last goal from a set piece coming back in March, through Aurelien Tchouameni's strike against Ivory Coast. Les Bleus will be also be looking to improve defending set pieces, having let in twice from corners against Denmark this year - including once at the World Cup.
With England a threat from those positions, France feel that the game could be won and lost in that area and Didier Deschamps has been drilling his side at set pieces to ensure they are best prepared to deal with them. The addition of Jules Kounde at right-back will give Les Bleus extra height in the box, with Dayot Upamecano and Raphael Varane set to start at centre-back.
As was the case against Poland, Deschamps’ men have not practised penalties as the France coach believes it is impossible to replicate the conditions of a penalty shoot-out in the context of a training session. Both of Friday's quarter-finals went to spot-kicks, with Croatia beating Brazil and Argentina securing the win over Netherlands.
But the focus is mainly on France's clash with England, and Deschamps has praised the Three Lions. He claimed that they have 'no weaknesses', while also lauding Southgate for the job he is doing.
"They don't have any [weaknesses], all teams have strengths, not all have too many weaknesses, only some slightly less strong points," he said.
"They have had the opportunity to see us play in four matches even though the third may not be too useful for them. At the end of the day you also need to make slight changes here and there and recognise slight weaknesses of opponents, areas you can work on."
