Stade Louis II
14.05.2023, 18:05
Sunday night's crucial Ligue 1 match between Monaco and Lille at Stade Louis II will be an opportunity for them to make significant progress toward a top-four finish. Last time around, the hosts defeated Angers to snap a losing streak, whilst Lille lost to Reims and came away empty-handed.
Currently sitting in fifth position in Ligue 1, Lille has not played well thus far this year. The visitors will need to put in a lot of effort to win this game after suffering a shocking loss to Reims the previous week.
AS Monaco is now in fourth place in the league rankings and has had a good start to the year. In their previous match, Les Monegasques narrowly defeated Angers, and they'll try for a similar outcome this weekend.
Get Your Sign-Up Bonus!AS Monaco (WDWLLW)
Goals from Golovin and Boadu in the 2-1 victory for Monaco against already-relegated Angers last weekend helped them get their Champions League campaign back on track. The Stade Raymond-Kopa triumph was timely since Les Rouge et Blanc had a challenging eight days to wrap off their April calendar, losing at Lens before being destroyed at home by Montpellier.
With four games remaining, Philippe Clement's team is fourth in Ligue 1, five points clear of fifth-placed Lille and six points behind third-placed Marseille. It seems doubtful that Monaco would be able to move up the table this season after finishing third in each of the previous two campaigns, but a top-four result for a team that was battling relegation in the 2018–19 season would still be a triumph.
Six of Monaco's eight Ligue 1 losses this season have come in front of their home fans, making Stade Louis II an unproductive home venue for Clement's charges.
Breel Embolo, who suffered a knee injury in March, will not be available for Monaco's match against Lille this weekend. Another significant injury occurred to Malang Sarr in March; the 24-year-old hasn't appeared for Clement's team since their loss to Reims two months ago due to an abdominal ailment. Ben Yedder and Guillermo Maripan won't be available for the match against Lille on Sunday night, so the hosts will be without their services.
Below is the possible starting eleven for Monaco:
Nubel; Disasi, Matsima, Henrique; Vanderson, Matazo, Fofana, Diatta; Minamino, Golovin, Boadu
Lille (WLWDWL)
Lille will play their second straight-away game this coming weekend after barely falling to Reims at Stade Auguste-Delaune II last Sunday thanks to a Marshall Munetsi goal in the first half. In each of their past three league games, Paulo Fonseca's team has failed to get all three points when away from home, losing to Angers, Auxerre, or the Reim.
The goal now is to ensure European football for next year, even if that means simply playing in the Europa Conference League. With the team currently in fifth place in the league standings, progress over the uninspired 10th-place finish from last year is practically inevitable.
Lille may not have been the best team in the league this year, but they do have one of Ligue 1's brightest talents in Canadian Jonathan David, who is just behind Kylian Mbappe and Alexandre Lacazette in the battle for the Golden Boot. A number of teams are showing interest in the 23-year-old former Gent player because of his 21 goals in 33 league games for Lille this season.
After sustaining a cruciate ligament injury in March, Lille centre defender Tiago Djalo, 23, will miss the rest of the season. He joined Lille from Sporting Lisbon in 2019 and has been a consistent member of the starting lineup.
Kosovo's Edon Zhegrova is anticipated to keep his spot in the visiting lineup because Algerian winger Adam Ounas is still healing from a thigh injury sustained in the 3-0 victory against AC Ajaccio.
Below is the possible starting eleven for Lille:
Chevalier; Diakite, Fonte, Ribeiro, Ismaily; Andre, Gomes, Zhegrova, Cabella, Bamba; David
Expert Betting Tips
The previous 43 games between the two clubs have seen AS Monaco prevail 16 times, compared to AS Monaco's 13 triumphs. AS Monaco has a strong recent record versus Lille. As opposed to Lille in Ligue 1, where AS Monaco had won six of their previous seven games, they had only managed to win one of their last five encounters against Lille.
This season, AS Monaco has been remarkable, and they have a strong team at their disposal. The hosts may be formidable on their good days, but they do have a few problems to fix before this game.
Lille has been deceiving all season and will need to play at their peak level to finish in the top four. This weekend's game might finish in a tie because the two sides are now evenly matched but a safe bet to consider is BTTS.