Seeking their first victory at Stade Louis II this year, Monaco will host Toulouse on matchday 22 of the Ligue 1 campaign on Sunday.
Last weekend, Les Monegasques won for the first time domestically in 2024, defeating arch-rivals Nice 3-2, while Le Tef were beaten 2-1 by Nantes.
Match preview
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The past few weeks have been challenging for Adi Hutter, with his side, going winless in three successive league fixtures before last Sunday and exiting the Coupe de France against a third-tier side (Rouen) earlier this month.
In 90 minutes, though, everything changed after Monaco won a back-and-forth contest in the Derby de la Cote d'Azur and climbed into third place and a spot in the Champions League group stage next season.
Monaco enter this contest with just a single point from their previous three league contests in the Principality, matching their longest winless run at home in this competition from a season ago.
While one win is nice, this team have yet to earn consecutive victories in this competition since early December, beginning that month with triumphs over Montpellier HSC (2-0) and Rennes (2-1).
Les Monegasques have points in all but one domestic encounter this season when scoring an opening half goal, losing 5-2 to Paris Saint-Germain last November.
They scored multiple times in six of their opening seven league contests at Stade Louis II but have only done that once in their last four home games (2-0 win over Montpellier).
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Two defeats in their last three Ligue 1 affairs has the club from Occitania dangerously close to relegation, currently just three points above Metz and descent into Ligue 2 and one ahead of Lorient in the relegation playoff.
Although they have not suffered consecutive defeats in this competition since late October to early November (two), Le Tefece have dropped points in 12 of their previous 14 league fixtures.
Their defeat versus Nantes last week was the ninth for them in this competition, one more than they had under Philippe Montanier at this stage a season ago.
Carles Martinez Novell has struggled to keep his team consistent in his first campaign in charge, with Les Pitchouns failing to win consecutive league games in 2023-24 but only losing successive encounters once (two).
The biggest positive for them at this stage of the season is their play away from home, with 12 of their 20 points so far coming outside Stadium de Toulouse, including three of their four domestic triumphs.
On the final matchday of the previous top-flight campaign, Toulouse scored a winner in second-half stoppage time to defeat Monaco 2-1, their first triumph in the Principality since the 2007-08 season (2-0).
Team News
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Monaco will be without their leading goalscorer, Wissam Ben Yedder, along with one of their top chance creators in Aleksandr Golovin and centre-back Soungoutou Magassa, with all three on yellow card suspensions.
Vanderson remains on the sidelines due to a sore hip, while Caio Henrique and Breel Embolo will also be out with cruciate ligament tears.
Denis Zakaria notched a brace in his first game back from suspension last weekend, with Golovin scoring the winner, his sixth of the domestic campaign, moving him one ahead of Takumi Minamino for second on the team.
Zakaria Aboukhlal has a knee issue and is unlikely to feature for Toulouse this weekend, while Denis Genreau is dealing with a sore groin and Kevin Keben remains sidelined because of a thigh injury.
They will also be without one of their top chance creators in Gabriel Suazo, who will have to miss this match due to a yellow card suspension.
Thijs Dallinga had their only strike versus Nantes last weekend, while Mikkel Desler scored in their 2-1 defeat at Benfica in the Europa League this week.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Kohn; Kehrer, Maripan, Salisu, Jakobs; Fofana, Zakaria, Camara; Minamino, Akliouche; Balogun
Toulouse possible starting lineup:
Restes; Desler, Mawissa, Nicolaisen, Diarra; Schmidt, Skytta; Spierings, Gboho, Cissoko; Dallinga
We say: Monaco 2-0 Toulouse
Morale should be high in the Principality following that dazzling attacking display against Nice, and even without two key attacking pieces, we are tipping Monaco to defeat a side in Toulouse who have been far more inconsistent while lacking quality in the final third.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
