Fresh off their biggest victory of the domestic campaign, Monaco will turn their attention to the Europa League on Thursday when they host the reigning Turkish Super Lig champions Trabzonspor at Stade Louis II.
Both sides are tied for second in their group on three points, having each lost by a single goal against the champions of Hungary, Ferencvaros.
Match preview
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Starting slow and suddenly catching fire has been a theme for Les Monegasques over the past couple of seasons, and at the moment, there is a lot for manager Philippe Clement to like about his team's performances.
They have captured four consecutive domestic affairs and were dynamite out of the gate versus Nantes this past weekend, netting three times before that match was 30 minutes old, as Monaco scored twice in six minutes for just the second time in 35 years and came away with a 4-1 victory.
Like in the 2021-22 group stage of this tournament, Monaco have sustained a lot of pressure in both of their group-stage encounters, winning their opener, 1-0 against Red Star Belgrade, and conceding a late goal to Ferencvaros on matchday two.
That defeat was only the second time in their last eight Europa League games played at Stade Louis II that this team had suffered a loss, while their Belgian coach is now winless in five home fixtures in this competition, losing a group-stage encounter at home for the first time.
Monaco as a club have not lost consecutive home fixtures in the UEFA Cup/Europa League since September 1995.
The quality which this team has shown domestically of late - scoring seven goals in their last two Ligue 1 encounters - has been almost non-existent in this edition of the Europa League.
Monaco have an expected goals total of 2.9 in this season's competition, but have tallied only once, giving them a shot conversion rate of 4.2%, the third-lowest among the teams competing.
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Trabzonspor have been involved in numerous close encounters, and lately, those games seem to be going their way, with the Turks winning four of their last five matches in all competitions, and all of those triumphs being by a single goal.
That includes a victory on matchday two, when Abdullah Avci saw his team score once in each half to edge Red Star 2-1 after conceding three first-half tallies in their opening fixture, losing 3-2.
Comebacks and late drama have become synonymous with this team domestically in recent outings, as they came from behind to beat Gaziantep 3-2 despite trailing 2-0 after nine minutes, and then they erased a 1-0 deficit, scoring twice with fewer than 15 minutes remaining this weekend, defeating Kayserispor 2-1.
Their victory on matchday two was the first time they had triumphed in this competition since November 2014, losing nine of their last 10 Europa League contests before defeating the reigning Serbian Super League champions.
Trabzonspor have faced French opponents six times on the European stage, losing only once, 3-1 versus Toulouse at the 2009-10 Europa League qualifying stage.
It has been quite some time, however, since they have earned a point away from home in this competition, losing six consecutive Europa League away fixtures heading into this match.
The last time they earned a point as the visiting team was in the 2014-15 campaign, when they drew 0-0 against Russian side FC Rostov.
Team News
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Wissam Ben Yedder has yet to tally in this competition, but the Monaco striker netted a hat-trick on Sunday against Nantes, as he has now tallied three times in five different Ligue 1 contests, a feat that has only been bested by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kylian Mbappe (seven each) in the French top flight this century.
Breel Embolo had the only Monaco strike in their opening-game victory versus Red Star, as Alexander Nubel, who leads Ligue 1 in saves (40), collected a clean sheet on that occasion.
Kevin Volland, who, along with Axel Disasi, led this team in goals in their 2021-22 Europa League campaign (two), is looking to make his first appearance at this season's tournament.
Caio Henrique and Aleksandr Golovin are searching for their first assists after each tallying twice in this competition last season to lead the team.
Willem Geubbels is out until mid-October due to a muscular issue, while Ruben Aguilar should be back near the end of the month after previously suffering a foot injury.
Trezeguet netted the winner for the Turks against Red Star on matchday two, with their other goal coming courtesy of Marek Hamsik, while the Egyptian winger also had an assist, as did Anastasios Bakasetas.
Muhammet Taha Tepe and Ugurcan Cakir have each started one Europa League match in goal this season, with the latter picking up their only win.
Edin Visca, who had 12 assists domestically last season for the Turkish side, is not expected to return from his sore arm until the middle of this month, while Serkan Asan and Dorukhan Tokoz remain on the sidelines with meniscus injuries.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Vanderson, Disasi, Badiashile; Minamino, Fofana, Camara, Diatta, Golovin; Embolo, Ben Yedder
Trabzonspor possible starting lineup:
Cakir; Larsen, Bartra, Denswil, Elmali; Hamsik, Siopis; Trezeguet, Bakasetas, Lahtimi; Gomez
We say: Monaco 2-1 Trabzonspor
There is a lot of quality on each side, so we expect to see at least a goal or two in this match, though we are giving Monaco a slight edge because of their convincing domestic victories of late, and the fact that Ben Yedder seems to be back in form.
The Turkish outfit have struggled away from home, and the fact they have conceded seven goals in their previous three away matches in all competitions does not leave us with much confidence that they can shut down an in-form attack like Les Monegasques.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
