It’s just four days until French residents once again take to the polls and elect their next president

The two contenders, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen have just taken to the stage to face off in the highly-anticipated presidential debate.

It’s a little bit like deja vu for voters in France, with this exact same debate occurring five years ago when Le Pen last challenged Macron for the top job.

Incumbent leader Macron was victorious in the 2017 showdown and then went on to become president.

It is this debate that was seen as one of the reasons why Le Pen was unsuccessful in her bid for the presidency.

Le Pen is currently trailing behind Macron in the latest polls, but political analysts stress the race to the Elysee Palace is far from over.

Millions of voters remain undecided, and over the two and a half hours of debate, both are hoping to gain the upper hand.

The key issue remains the spiralling cost of living throughout France, which will likely play a big part in the debate.

As the debate kicked off, Le Pen said 70 per cent of the French people believe their standard of living had declined over the past five years of Macron’s administration.

Macron notes France was faced with an unprecedented crisis being Covid, followed by war in Europe, and has steered his nation through these events.