Rock-bottom Montpellier HSC will look to begin a miraculous escape from relegation when they welcome Monaco to the Stade de la Mosson in Ligue 1 on Friday.
Neither side has been in great form recently, but Monaco have just about clung onto their spot in the top three for the time being.
Match preview
© Imago
A truly dismal season only looks like going in one direction for Montpellier, with Jean-Louis Gasset unable to turn their fortunes around since being appointed as manager.
With 12 defeats from their 17 Ligue 1 games this season, the five other clubs who have lost as many games at this stage have all gone on to finish bottom of the league, with the most recent being Angers in 2022-23.
Twenty-three games without a clean sheet is a new all-time club record, and comfortably the longest ongoing streak in Ligue 1, and that is one major factor why they find themselves seven points adrift of safety.
Montpellier remain the only club in Europe's top-five leagues to have taken 100% of their points at home, but they came away with nothing from their crucial encounter with Angers here last week.
Dubbed as a must-win clash for both, Angers took all three points, leaving the Stade de la Mosson with a 3-1 win, with Montpellier shooting themselves in the foot with two late red cards to put the game beyond them.
That means the 2011-12 Ligue 1 champions have lost their first two games of 2025, showing no response to the embarrassing 4-0 defeat to fourth-tier Le Puy in the Coupe de France before Christmas.
It only gets tougher for the league's basement boys too, because their next eight games will see them face the likes of Lens, Lyon, Nice, Rennes, Lille and Monaco next.
Monaco in particular will not be welcome visitors, because no team has beaten them more often in Ligue 1 history (35 times in 61 games).
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Adi Hutter's men have gone through a rocky patch though, after a sensational start saw them lead the way towards the end of October.
Since returning from the international break that month, Monaco rank 12th in the form table, taking just 12 points from a possible 30, with their current three-game winless run being the longest they have suffered under Hutter.
Failing to win again here would see them go on their longest winless away run in almost three years, but Hutter has won all three previous meetings with Montpellier, and Monaco have won on their last two trips without conceding.
After a 2-2 draw with Nantes last week, Monaco are still just inside the top three, but Nice in particular are charging and could overtake them this weekend unless there is a response from the principality club.
Morale will have been dented by a penalty-shoot-out defeat to Reims in the Coupe de France in midweek though, so with Aston Villa on the horizon in an important Champions League encounter on Tuesday, Hutter will hope his side can recover some confidence before that.
Team News
![Jordan Ferri (12) of Montpellier HSC during the friendly match between Girona FC and Montpellier HSC played at the Royalverd Training Center sports facilities, July 20 ,2024[on July 25, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/30/jordan-ferri.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Jordan Ferri (12) of Montpellier HSC during the friendly match between Girona FC and Montpellier HSC played at the Royalverd Training Center sports facilities, July 20 ,2024[on July 25, 2024]")
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Moments of madness late on in defeat to Angers last week saw Montpellier reduced to nine men, with two bookings for Kiki Kouyate and a straight red awarded to Jordan Ferri equalling suspensions for this one.
Christopher Jullien continues to recover from a cruciate ligament injury, while Birama Toure and Nikola Maksimovic are set to remain out with more minor issues.
Hutter may be tempted to rotate for this one with Villa coming up in a few days, but many of his backup players are currently struggling with injury.
Breel Embolo may be forced to start due to setbacks suffered by George Ilenikhena and Folarin Balogun, while young defender Christian Mawissa Elebi is also out with a hamstring injury.
Monaco wasted no time in entering the market this month, signing Sturm Graz attacker Mika Biereth, and after scoring on French soil in his last game for the club at Lille, the 21-year-old set up the equaliser off the bench on debut in midweek, but his overall match fitness is still questionable.
Elsewhere on the sidelines, Denis Zakaria and Takumi Minamino have both been battling illness, while Aleksandr Golovin has taken a knock to his ankle in the past week, with all three still doubts.
Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:
Lecomte; Tchato, Omeragic, Chotard, Sylla; Savanier, Sagnan, Nzingoula; Al-Tamari, Adams, Nordin
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Majecki; Teze, Kehrer, Salisu, Caio Henrique; Magassa, Camara; Ouattara, Ben Seghir, Minamino; Biereth
We say: Montpellier HSC 0-2 Monaco
It looks as though nothing will save Montpellier from this point, because not even home advantage aided them in a must-win clash last week.
Monaco have been out of sorts themselves, but they have only lost eight of their 61 meetings against Montpellier in Ligue 1, and the gap between the clubs has never been larger.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
