Two teams at opposing ends of the table will compete on Sunday when Monaco host Clermont at Stade Louis II, with each squad hoping to get back to winning ways after drawing their previous outings.
The hosts will be aiming to push into the European positions with a victory, meanwhile, the visitors are hoping to move further away from the relegation zone.
Match preview
© Reuters
Monaco have enjoyed mixed form throughout the season so far, with eight victories as well as six draws and defeats, which is why they find themselves outside of the top six at the moment.
However, the squad are undefeated in their previous four performances in all competitions, with their most recent outing seeing them held to a goalless draw.
Despite the fact that they dominated possession with 69% of the ball, Philippe Clement's team were unable to find the back of the net to break the deadlock against Nantes.
But with a victory having the chance to take them as high as fourth by the end of the weekend, there is a lot of motivation for Monaco to perform.
They were able to secure a win the last time they faced their opponents, despite the fact that Clermont took a seventh-minute lead in that game.
© Reuters
In the end, goals from Ben Yedder, Kevin Volland and Sofiane Diop helped Monaco earn three points, which is something the squad will be looking to repeat.
Clermont have had a difficult season to this point, despite a strong start where they only lost one of their opening five fixtures.
Right now they sit 15th in Ligue 1, but they are just two points above the relegation zone, which places pressure on every match until they push further away.
Clermont picked up a crucial victory in their final performance of 2021, and they followed that up with another resilient effort last weekend where they drew 0-0.
Alidu Seidu made life difficult for his teammates by earning a red card in the 14th minute of the game, therefore the fact the squad held out Reims for the rest of the game to take a point was a strong defensive performance.
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
- W
- W
- D
- L
- L
- D
- L
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
- W
- L
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Monaco were heavily affected by COVID-19 last weekend with a group of players being unavailable, but after an isolation period, the club should be back to full strength.
Cesc Fabregas and Krepin Diatta have been doubts as of late, and each man is expected to miss out once again this Sunday, but Clement should still have plenty of options to choose from.
Clermont have been dealing with a long list of injuries recently with Cedric Houtondji dealing with an ankle problem, but Jason Berthomier was able to overcome a groin issue to feature in their recent game.
They will be without Seidu due to his red card, but Yadaly Diaby will return after serving his own suspension, which will be a boost to the squad, plus Florent Ogier came back from his recent fitness problem last week.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Jakobs, Badiashile, Maripan, Sidibe; Tchouameni, Matazo; Diop, Henrique, Martins; Volland
Clermont possible starting lineup:
Djoco; Zedadka, Mendy, Ogier, N'Simba; Magnin, Gastien; Dossou, Berthomier, Rashani; Hamel
We say: Monaco 2-0 Clermont
Both teams head into this game on the back of a draw, but their form on a wider scale is vastly different, which is reflected in their league positions.
Monaco have the chance to potentially break into European places this weekend, and securing a victory is something they should be capable of doing here.
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 61.34%. A draw had a probability of 22.1% and a win for Clermont had a probability of 16.56%.
The most likely scoreline for a Monaco win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.39%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.54%) and 2-1 (9.78%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.5%), while for a Clermont win it was 0-1 (5.64%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 3.3% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Monaco would win this match.
