Emmanuel Macron talks about leading France through difficult periods, including the Covid pandemic and the war being waged in eastern Europe.

“Obviously we are speaking about a time when people are worried or concerned,” he says

The incumbent president talks about the importance of improving daily life and making France “more independent and stronger”.

He also says France will be stronger if it focuses on tackling the climate crisis.

Marine Le Pen: “I know our people well. I’ve been meeting them for years. I am forced to be a witness for five years. I’ve seen them suffer, I’ve seen them worry.”

She says she would be the president that would look after everyday concerns, such as purchasing power and schools.

The far-right candidate says she would also restore harmony among the French. “I will be the president of justice. I will be the president of national fraternity. I will be the president of civil peace.”

Candidates are faced with a question about the cost of living.

Marine Le Pen says she wants to act as the “spokesperson” for the French people and to increase the purchasing power of the population.

Emmanuel Macron says he has noticed there is not anything on unemployement in his far-right opponent’s platform – which suggests there is no problem.

Watch here for the debate translated into English:

The debate is set to kick off shortly. Stay put for updates.

Borzou Daragahi, our international correspondent, has taken a look at heightened scrunity over Marine Le Pen’s ties with the Kremlin as the war in Ukraine wages on.

The far-right candidate has previously expressed support for Vladimir Putin – and was even forced to destroy thousands of copies of campaign material that featured photos of the pair after the Ukrainian invasion was launched.

Read his report from Paris here:

Candidates are expected to try and reach out to undecided voters or those who “aren’t even planning to vote” on Sunday, reporter Claire Paccalin says.

The debate could be a crucial moment in the French presidential election.

Some 14 per cent of voters are waiting for the debate to decide who to vote for, while 12 per cent say it will be decisive for whether they will vote at all, according to a poll by OpinionWay-Kea Partners for Les Echos newspaper.

Sources on both side said they wanted a calm debate. One close to Emmanuel Macron said it could be “boring” and the president had to show he was “solid.”

A source close to Marine Le Pen said she wanted “a calm debate, project vs project”.

Additional reporting by Reuters

The debate will be kicking off in an hour.

I’ll be posting updates throughout here. Or for the full thing, you can watch live on the English-language France 24:

French President Emmanuel Macron has a more than 90 per cent chance of winning Sunday’s presidential runoff vote against far-right challenger Marine Le Pen, the odds offered by UK political bookmakers showed on Wednesday.

Macron has seen his lead in opinion polls edge higher over the past few days to over 55 per cent on average against 5 per cent in favor of his rival whom he will face in a debate later on Wednesday.

The websites of William Hill and Paddy Power gave odds implying a 90.9 per cent chance for the incumbent, while the Betfair Exchange had 92.6 per cent and Ladbrokes 94.1 per cent.