Monaco go in search of a seventh successive Ligue 1 victory when they welcome Angers to the Stade Louis II on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts kept themselves in the mix for the Champions League places as a result of another win last weekend, whilst the visitors extended their winless run further to leave them in danger of the drop at the wrong end of the table.
Match preview
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With Monaco in such fantastic form and making the trip to a helpless Saint-Etienne side last Saturday, it was not too surprising to see Philippe Clement's side record a comprehensive victory.
A quickfire double from Wissam Ben Yedder and Kevin Volland midway through the first half put Monaco in control from an early stage, although Wahbi Khazri's penalty on the stroke of half time halved the deficit despite a dominant opening 45.
An own goal from Timothee Kolodziejczak, and a rare late goal from Myron Boadu, sealed an impressive 4-1 victory though as The Monegasques made it six wins on the bounce.
Defeat for Strasbourg resulted in a climb to fourth spot in the table, but wins for Rennes and Nice mean the desired Champions League place remains out of their grasp for the time being.
However, heading into the weekend level on points with Les Rennais, Monaco remain in touching distance of the final qualification spot for Europe's grand stage.
Although, with Rennes hosting struggling Saint-Etienne on home soil, a seventh consecutive win is unlikely to be enough for Monaco to claim third place by the end of matchday 35, but Clement will have his side fully focused on what they can control - all three points against Angers on Sunday.
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Whilst the hosts find themselves on an unstoppable run of form heading into this clash, the visitors continue to struggle at the other end of the table following a five-match winless streak.
In fact, taking into account the seven successive defeats prior to that 1-0 victory over Brest back in March, Angers have only managed to pick up all three points on one occasion in their last 13 outings.
As a result, their bright start to the campaign is all that has kept Gerald Baticle's side out of immediate danger, although only a narrow four-point gap remains over Saint-Etienne in the relegation playoff spot.
With eight points keeping Le SCO above Bordeaux in the automatic relegation zone, Sunday's visitors should be safe from the immediate drop, but with a daunting trip to high-flying Monaco on Sunday unlikely to yield even a single point, Baticle and his team will be hopeful that fellow relegation candidates continue to drop points elsewhere too.
Huge meetings with Bordeaux and Metz follow the trip to the Stade Louis II, so much of their focus and effort is likely to be concentrated on the fixtures to follow, although Baticle will be keen to see his side demonstrate more character than they did last weekend, when Angers threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at Clermont.
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Team News
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Following recent yellow cards for Monaco, Axel Disasi and Aurelien Tchouameni will both join Vanderson on the sidelines due to suspension on Sunday.
Djibril Sidibe is expected to deputise for the latter at full-back, whilst Guillermo Maripan should come into the heart of the defence for the former.
Twenty-year-old Eliot Matazo is the likely option to replace the influential Tchouameni at the base of the midfield alongside Youssouf Fofana.
Ruben Aguilar also misses out through illness, whilst Cesc Fabregas could return from a lengthy absence after playing 45 minutes for the reserves in the week.
As for the visitors, Mohamed-Ali Cho's red card in last weekend's draw means the striker will miss out through suspension on Sunday.
The season-ending injury for Sofiane Boufal, as well as the expected absences of Stephane Bahoken and Jimmy Cabot, mean that Baticle has very limited options to choose from in the forward areas.
Mathias Pereira Lage is also expected to miss out once more due to a knee injury, but Pierrick Capelle should be available despite being forced off before half time against Clermont.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Sidibe, Maripan, Badiashile, Henrique; Fofana, Matazo; Martins, Volland, Golovin; Ben Yedder
Angers possible starting lineup:
Mandrea; Ebosse, Traore, Thomas; Bamba, Capelle, Bentaleb, Ounahi, Doumbia; Fulgini, Ninga
We say: Monaco 2-0 Angers
Considering the form of Monaco heading into this clash, it is difficult to see many Ligue 1 sides preventing them from coming out victorious at this stage, especially visitors Angers.
The away side continue to suffer from an awful run of form, and with forward options very limited at the Stade Louis II, they are unlikely to cause their high-flying hosts too many problems on Sunday, meaning Monaco should stroll to a comfortable victory.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Monaco win with a probability of 76.04%. A draw had a probability of 15.5% and a win for Angers had a probability of 8.47%.
The most likely scoreline for a Monaco win was 2-0 with a probability of 13.16%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.82%) and 3-0 (10.66%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (7.37%), while for an Angers win it was 0-1 (3.03%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 13.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Monaco in this match.
