World Cup 2018: Uruguay vs France - 3 key battles to watch out for

#2 Luis Suarez vs Samuel Umtiti

You might not like him, but you cannot deny that he gives the national side his very best

The second individual battle will pit one Barcelona man against another Barcelona man - the sly lethality of Luis Suarez against the solid stability of Samuel Umtiti.

If Edinson Cavani fails to get fit in time for the quarterfinal (and reports are contradictory on that), it is up to Suarez to shoulder the enormous workload that was taken up by Cavani. Cavani scored both the goals against Portugal, and his replacement - Stuani, is a good goal-scorer, but he is not Cavani.

After a miserable opening match, Suarez has slowly grown over the course of the tournament and is now back to doing what he does best, but his telepathic connection with Cavani is what led to Portugal's demise. Without Cavani, it will be interesting to see how Suarez copes.

Samuel Umtiti, along with Rafael Varane, is part of a French back 4 that conceded 3 goals against Argentina. Umtiti has not had the best of tournaments, conceding a penalty against Australia because of a handball.

Against Uruguay, he cannot afford to give up any loose chances, because that is exactly what the team thrives on. They have one of the sharpest strikers in football, and Umtiti has to be on full alert to prevent any chances of a screw-up.