Monaco and Lille braced for close-fought battle in the principality

AS Monaco vs Lille OSC - 14/05/2023

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Fourth-placed Monaco and fifth-placed Lille are separated by five points ahead of their pivotal Ligue 1 showdown at the Stade Louis-II on Sunday.

As it stands, Monaco find themselves in the Europa League berth, while Lille occupy the Europa Conference League spot.

With Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Marseille expected to finish in the top three, Sunday’s clash in the principality looks destined to have a big impact on the race for fourth and fifth.

Following back-to-back defeats against Lens and Montpellier, Monaco bounced back with a 2-1 victory over Anger last time out.

Although Monaco have lost two of their last three games, they have only suffered four defeats across their previous 19 Ligue 1 encounters.

That said, Monaco have not been at their best on home soil in recent times, losing three of their past five league games at the Stade Louis-II.

It is worth noting, however, that Monaco are the second-highest scorers in the division, having netted 68 goals in 34 outings this term (two goals per game).

As for Lille, they suffered a 1-0 defeat at Reims last time out, which ended a run of three matches without a loss for Les Dogues.

Lille have lost just two of their last 10 league clashes, with seven victories coming in their previous 13 matches.

However, Lille have struggled on the road of late, taking a solitary point from their last three away games while scoring just once.

Having only managed to win two of their previous nine Ligue 1 matches on their travels, Lille will struggle to claim all three points on Sunday.

Head-to-head: Back in October, Lille claimed a dramatic 4-3 victory over Monaco, with Remy Cabella bagging a brace in the reverse fixture.

Across the past nine Ligue 1 meetings between Monaco and Lille, there have been three wins for both teams, in addition to three draws.

Team news: Monaco look set to be without injured pair Breel Embolo (sprained knee) and Malang Sarr (abdominal) this weekend.

Lille also have a couple of injury absentees, with Gabriel Gudmundsson (thigh) and Adam Ounas (thigh) expected to miss the trip to Monaco.

There has been very little between Monaco and Lille in recent years, suggesting that Sunday’s showdown will be another close affair.

With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Monaco and Lille will play out a cagey, low-scoring draw in the principality.

Home team
Away team

Probability %

1X2

Pred

Correct score

Avg. goals

Weather conditions

Coef.

Score

Live
coef.

Fr1

AS Monaco Lille OSC 14/05/2023 17:05

323533

X

1 - 1

2.40

18°

3.40

2.55 3.40 2.60 no no no

FT

0 - 0(0 - 0)

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