This weekend sees the 8th round of fixtures in the French Ligue 1 and defending champions Monaco get the action under way at the Stade Louis II against Montpellier. Having lost several key players in the summer transfer window, this was set to be a tough season for Monaco as they aimed to defend their championship title which was won in style last season. However, a win in this game and they will return to the top of Ligue 1 ahead of Pairs Saint-Germain’s game on Saturday. Montpellier travel to Monaco in the bottom half of the table and a win could see them move into the top half prior to the international break.
Monaco Form
Monaco suffered a disappointing and unexpected 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday night. They will be keen to put things right in-front of their own fans on Friday. The defeat to Porto was Monaco’s second defeat of the season and not including the French Super Cup they have lost 2 of their 9 competitive games. Form in Ligue 1 is very good and Monaco have won 18 of their last 19 league games and are currently on a run of 13 straight wins at home. They have won by 2 or more goals in 8 of their last 12 league games and have scored 2 or more goals in each of their last 13 home matches.
Montpellier Form
Montpellier come into this match on the back of a good 0-0 home draw against Paris Saint-Germain. This is a match Montpellier were expected to lose and to keep PSG at bay for 90 minutes is a fine achievement. However, their overall form is not so good and Montpellier have won only 2 of their previous 12 league games. They have lost 5 of their last 6 away Ligue 1 games and have only won 3 of their last 20 on the road in the league. Montpellier have kept only 3 clean sheets in their last 24 away Ligue 1 games and have managed to score just 2 goals in their last 6 matches away from home.
Team News
Monaco will be without goalkeeper Danijel Subasic, defender Kevin N’Doram and forward Keita Balde who are all on the treatment table. Radamel Falcao is expected to lead the attack once more. Montpellier will travel without the suspended striker Giovanni Sio but are injury free ahead of this game. Therefore, expect them to set up in a similar way to their 0-0 with PSG last weekend.
Top Betting Tips
Despite drawing with PSG last weekend, an away trip to Monaco is going to be more than Montpellier can handle and the home team must be classed as favourites to win this match. Monaco are 4/1 with Ladbrokes to win this game and move to the top of Ligue 1. Monaco continue to score goals at home for fun and should get at least another 2 goals in this match to add to their impressive total. Monaco to score 2 or more goals is 2/5 with Coral. Radamel Falcao is the top scorer in Ligue 1 and has scored 12 goals in his last 10 games for club and country. Falcao is 4/9 at Ladbrokes to score any time and 2/1 to open the scoring.