Monaco welcome Lens to the Stade Louis II in Ligue 1 on Sunday with the two clubs having made excellent starts to the new campaign.

Both sides have won their opening two games of the season without conceding, and are providing early pressure on huge title favourites Paris Saint-Germain.

Match preview

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Monaco will play their first match since learning who they will face in the league phase of the Champions League on Thursday.

Using the UEFA coefficient as a guide, Monaco have been handed one of the more favourable draws, but they will have to visit Inter Milan and Arsenal, while being drawn against arguably the two strongest sides from pot four in the form of Aston Villa and Bologna.

After the start Adi Hutter's men have made to the season, Monaco should have little to be fearful about though, especially after a dominant win over Lyon last weekend.

Monaco went to the Groupama Stadium, won 2-0, and restricted Lyon to just two shots over the course of 90 minutes - an all-time low for them since records began almost two decades ago.

That performance has consolidated Monaco's position as second favourites to PSG, but Hutter will be hoping to go one better, after finishing second to the Parisians last season.

Lens are likely to provide stiff opposition, but Monaco recorded three wins over their upcoming visitors last season - winning 3-0 here, 3-2 away and on penalties in the Coupe de France.

Should Monaco repeat the feat of winning without conceding again here, it will be just the second time in their history they have managed to do so in their first three games of a Ligue 1 season, 47 years after the first instance, when they ended the campaign as French champions.

Lens will be looking to do exactly the same here, but for them it would be for the first time in their history doing so with three clean sheets to boot, as this could see them maintain a 100% record after three games for the first time since 2001.

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Despite a poor away record last season which saw them take just 20 points from a possible 51 on the road, Lens won at Angers on the opening weekend, and they followed up that success with a 2-0 win over Brest.

Anass Zaroury starred on his debut registering an assist against the side that finished third in Ligue 1 last season, but Lens have suffered a big setback since the weekend.

New manager Will Still was unable to guide Lens into a European group stage for the second straight season, as they came up short in Athens against Panathinaikos.

In what was undoubtedly the strongest tie in the Conference League playoffs, Panathinaikos took another French scalp after knocking Marseille out of the Champions League last season, beating Lens 2-0 at home to go through 3-2 on aggregate.

Florian Sotoca missed an early penalty which would have put Lens two-up on aggregate, as the Blood and Gold have gone from Champions League group stages to Conference League playoff elimination in under 12 months.

Team News

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Monaco will be without one of their goalscorers from last week's win at Lyon, as new signing Lamine Camara would go on to be sent off in the dying stages of their 2-0 win.

Eliesse Ben Seghir got the other goal for Hutter's side, and after breaking into the side as a 16-year-old during the 2022-23 campaign, the young forward now looks settled as a regular starter.

Krepin Diatta and Aleksandr Golovin will miss out due to the injury for Monaco, while Guillermo Maripan departed the club to join Torino this week.

Lens boss Still appeared to make changes prioritising the midweek clash with Panathinaikos, so they may field a similar side here, with Wesley Said and Przemyslaw Frankowski set to come back into the league XI after starting in Athens.

Kevin Danso did not travel as he was set for a move to Roma, but the Italian authorities pulled the plug on the deal after irregularities were spotted in stress tests which are notoriously rigorous in the country regarding player safety.

Neil El Aynaoui was also set for a move to upcoming opponents Monaco, but he too failed a medical, possibly due to his current knee injury.

Deiver Machado is suspended after a late red card against Brest, but Malang Sarr did make his first start in midweek so may replace him in defence, while there were also minutes for M'Bala Nzola after his loan move from Fiorentina.

Monaco possible starting lineup:
Kohn; Vanderson, Kehrer, Salisu, Jakobs; Zakaria, Magassa; Akliouche, Minamino, Ben Seghir; Embolo

Lens possible starting lineup:
Samba; Gradit, Medina, Sarr; Frankowski, Thomasson, Diouf, Chavez; Zaroury, Sotoca, Said

We say: Monaco 1-0 Lens

Monaco have looked very impressive so far and could be the side PSG worry about the most this season, especially after how easily they swept Lyon aside last week.

Lens have also been excellent domestically, but there may still be wounds from Thursday's agonising defeat in Europe, so Still must get his players back in shape for this tough test.


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Written by
Andrew Delaney

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