Former France defender, Frank Leboeuf, has called on Les Bleus boss Didier Deschamps to axe misfiring Real Madrid striker, Karim Benzema.

Benzema has gone 1000 hours without scoring for France and, while he has recently received the backing of his club coach Carlo Ancelotti, Leboeuf is unimpressed.

He thinks that in-form Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud deserves to start for France ahead of Benzema in their friendly against Australia on Friday.

While it seems that Benzema cannot  even buy a goal, Giroud has already banged in four for the Gunners so far this season, along with two assists.

And so Leboeuf believes the Arsenal man is the “logical” choice to start for France while Benzema’s goal drought lingers.

"Didier Deschamps is refining his squad for the World Cup,” Leboeuf explained.

“I think there will still be the choice between Giroud and Benzema but I honestly think Giroud deserves a chance, especially when you see what he does with Arsenal where he scores goals and provides assists.

“If he starts up front, that would just be logical."

Deschamps favours a single man upfront, so it does seem to be a shootout between the two strikers.

He initially leaned towards Benzema, but now it seems that Giroud is at least on equal footing in his national coach’s estimation.

"The 23 that are here have to have that,” Deschamps said, referring to fight to play that he senses in his frontline and across his squad.

“The first step is to be called up, the second is to have the desire to be in the starting line-up.

“The hierarchy can evolve. One of the two will start on Friday. We'll start with one central striker. Two different profiles with different qualities, one or the other could start."