France v Denmark line-ups

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More correspondence: “I feel a bit sad for Pavard, being dropped already,” writes Kári Tulinius. “When he came through at Stuttgart, he seemed like he was destined to be one of the all time great defenders, but his move to Bayern hasn’t worked out for him. On the other hand, he scored one of the all time World Cup goals in one of the all time World Cup matches, so I suppose he doesn’t need much pity from me or anyone.”

Yes, that’ll be that volley against Argentina from outside the penalty area in the 2018 World Cup Round of 16 that I can’t post up here because the Fifa curtain-twitchers have ensured it can’t be seen. You can find it on YouTube if you can’t remember it, although if you’ve seen it before, you’re unlikely to have forgotten it.

An email: “In my day of village football in the 50s and 60s all you needed was a referee,” yells David Mitchell at a passing cloud. “Home and away sides provided their own linesman. Today that would probably mean a riot at every game but I don’t remember any real problems due to bias and never saw an official attacked.”

That’s all well and good, David, but surely your village kickabouts would have been enhanced by the presence of a Standby Assistant Video Assisitant Video Referee.

Those teams: As expected, Raphael Varane starts at centre back for France after fully recovering from a hamstring injury. The M anchester United defender is the heart of the French defence alongside Dayot Upamecano, while Jules Kounde replaces Benjamin Pavard at right-back. Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot start in midfield with Antoine Griezmann set to work in support of the offensive trio of Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud.

Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand makes four changes to the side that drew with Tunisia. Simon Kjaer drops to the bench, making way for Victor Nelsson, while Jesper Lindstrom is in for Andreas Skov Olsen. Mikkel Damsgaard comes into midfield in place of the injured Thomas Delaney, while Andreas Cornelius is rewarded for his astonishing miss against the North African side with a starting berth. Kasper Dolberg drops to the bench.

France v Denmark line-ups

France: Hugo Lloris, Jules Kounde, Raphael Varane, Dayot Upamecano, Theo Hernandez, Adrien Rabiot, Aurelien Tchouameni, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappe

Denmark: Kasper Schmeichel, Joachim Andersen, Victor Nelsson, Andreas Christensen, Rasmus Kristensen, Pierre Hojbjerg, Christian Eriksen, Joakim Maehle, Jesper Lindstrom, Andreas Cornelius, Mikkel Damsgaard

Kasper Hjulmand: “Tomorrow’s game is obviously an important one for us after the start we had,” said Denmark’s manager during yesterday’s press conference. “It’s an opponent who belongs at the very, very top of football. The quality and talent they have in France at the moment is spectacular. I have great respect for them but we also know how strong we are. We know if we play our very best we know we have a chance of getting a good result against France.

On his side’s Nations League wins over France. “Obviously this is a new tournament, a bigger tournament,” he said. “But we know that if we play our very best, we have a chance of getting a good result and that’s what we’re aiming for. To be able to do that, we have to take a big step forward in the quality from the first match.”

Denmark’s head coach Kasper Hjulmand (left) faces the press flanked by Christian Eriksen. Photograph: Christophe Ena/AP

Didier Deschamps: The France manager hopes his side have learnt lessons from their surprise Nations League defeats at home and away to Denmark ahead of today’s game.

“They are underestimated as a team,” he said. “We are talking about a four-month period where they beat us twice and made life very difficult for us. We will have to make sure that’s not the case [this weekend]. It is not a question of revenge because we know the Danish players and they know us. They can change system from one match to the other and that can give us different types of difficulties.”

France manager Didier Deschamps is staring down the barrel of a hat-trick of defeats to Denmark in less than months. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA Today’s match officials

God be with the days when one ref and Just a couple of linesmen were all you needed to stage a football match. Eh? Now get a load of this …

Szymon Marciniak heads a crack team of 10 match officials who will be trying to ensure today’s match goes smoothly. Photograph: Dave Shopland/REX/Shutterstock Early team news

France are without Lucas Hernandez, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the build-up to Australia’s goal on Tuesday. The Bayern Munich defender was replaced by his brother Theo and his since undergone successful surgery on the first step of his long road back to full fitness. Hernandez’s Bayern teammate Kingsley Coman is also in doubt for today’s game, having missed training yesterday with a hip injury. Raphael Varane is expected to start for France in place of Ibrahim Konate, despite not having played since late October. Jules Kounde could start at right-back instead of Benjamin Pavard.

Thomas Delaney has also had to withdraw from the tournament, having suffered a knee injury in Denmark’s scoreless draw against Tunisia. The Sevilla midfielder is expected to be sidelined for at least a month. His absence may prompt Denmark manager into a reshuffle that could see Christian Eriksen sitting a little deeper to facilitate the selection of Jesper Lindstrom or Mikkel Damsgaard further up the pitch.

Updated at 09.54 EST

Group D: France v Denmark

Following their fairly straightforward victory over Australia, a win for France will guarantee their progression to the knockout rounds and will leave Denmark in a must-win situation ahead of their final group game against the Socceroos. Graham Arnold’s team beat Tunisia at the Al Janoub Stadium earlier today to keep their hopes of making the knockout stages very much alive. France and Australia currently occupy the top two places in Group D with three points each, while Denmark and Tunisia have just one apiece.

While France are the hot favourites to win at Stadium 974 today, they go into this game extremely mindful of the fact the Danes have beaten them at home and away in the Nations League in the past six months and are therefore not to be underestimated. Kick-off in Doha is at 4pm (GMT) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.