Monaco will be looking to build on their thrilling victory over Paris Saint-Germain when they play host to Nimes at the Stade Louis-II in Ligue 1 on Sunday afternoon.
The visitors also go into this game on the back of a much-needed win as they overcame fellow strugglers Reims 1-0 last time out.
Match preview
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Monaco supporters must have been fearing the worst when Kylian Mbappe quickly put PSG in control last Friday, with the 21-year-old's first-half brace opening the floodgates for what seemed destined to be a resounding victory for the champions.
However, an inspired half-time substitution by Monaco manager Niko Kovac turned the game on its head. Kevin Volland initially pulled one back for Monaco before bagging his second after being set up by Cesc Fabregas, who demonstrated his class throughout the second period.
The former Arsenal and Chelsea lynchpin was the hero of the hour for Monaco as his penalty saw Les Monegasques come away with all three points after Abdou Diallo hauled Volland to the ground. PSG were always going to be up against it with their depleted squad, but that does not make Monaco's victory any less special.
Kovac's men boast a 100% record in the month of November having also beaten Nice and Bordeaux over the past couple of weeks, with Marseille and Montpellier the only other teams in the French top flight to have won their last three on the trot.
Incredibly, fifth-placed Monaco are level on points and goal difference with fourth-placed Montpellier - with both sides scoring 20 and conceding 16 goals thus far - and Kovac's men will no doubt be hoping that Lorient can pull off a shock result against La Paillade ahead of their showdown with Nimes.
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Nimes were challenging Saint-Etienne for the worst form in Ligue 1 before taking to the field against Reims, who had started to see their results improve at a crucial time.
However, Jerome Arpinon's men managed to take an unexpected three points from their trip to the Stade Auguste-Delaune, with Renaud Ripart notching up his fifth goal against Reims as his second-half penalty ultimately separated the two sides.
Les Crocodiles had lost their last four in succession before that narrow victory - a run which saw them ship 12 goals and notch up just one - but Nimes are certainly facing an uphill battle to avoid yet another defeat against a Monaco outfit buoyed by that historic win over PSG.
However, Les Crocodiles have taken a point from their last two trips to Monaco and overcame Les Monegasques 3-1 in their most recent meeting, with this weekend's hosts winless against Nimes since 2015.
Monaco Ligue 1 form: LDLWWW
Nimes Ligue 1 form: WLLLLW
Team News
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Monaco will be able to call upon Ruben Aguilar for this game after he was suspended for the PSG clash, meaning that Chrislain Matsima should drop down to the bench.
With Djibril Sidibe suffering from a slight calf problem, Aguilar makes a timely return to the fold, while Wissam Ben Yedder is in line to make his comeback after testing positive for coronavirus.
Fabregas has surely done enough to warrant a starting place this weekend, which could see Kovac drop Sofiane Diop as he reverts to his original 4-3-3 from the start of the season.
Nimes midfielder Lucas Deaux was suspended for the win over Reims but should return to the middle of the park here over Matteo Ahlinvi.
Loick Landre and Pablo Martinez will continue at centre-back in the absence of Anthony Briancon, who has a knee injury, while fellow defender Birger Meling is also out with a problem in the same area.
Moussa Kone lasted under an hour before being hauled off against Reims, with Kevin Denkey hopeful of spearheading the visitors' attack on Sunday.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Mannone; Aguilar, Disasi, Badiashile, Henrique; Tchouameni, Fofana, Fabregas; Volland, Ben Yedder, Geubbels
Nimes possible starting lineup:
Reyner; Burner, Landre, Martinez, Paquiez; Cubas, Deaux, Fomba; Ferhat, Denkey, Ripart
We say: Monaco 3-0 Nimes
Nimes can afford to be positive heading into this game given their strong set of results against Monaco over the past couple of seasons, but that is unlikely to continue here. Kovac's men will feel like they can beat anyone after putting three past PSG last week, and Les Monegasques should ease to a comfortable victory on their own turf this weekend.
Top betting tip
Ben Knapton
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 60%. A draw had a probability of 22% and a win for Nimes had a probability of 17.96%.
The most likely scoreline for a Monaco win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.7%) and 2-1 (9.9%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.47%), while for a Nimes win it was 0-1 (5.55%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 6.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Monaco would win this match.
