With both sides now only focusing on their Ligue 1 prospects for the remainder of the season, Monaco welcome Paris Saint-Germain to the Stade Louis II for Sunday's lunchtime clash.
The hosts bowed out of the Europa League to Braga in midweek, while Mauricio Pochettino's side eased past Bordeaux 3-0 last weekend.
Match preview
© Reuters
The sudden sacking of Niko Kovac has seemingly already come back to bite Monaco, with Philippe Clement enduring a woeful run of results domestically and continentally in the past few weeks as Les Monegasques bowed out of the Europa League in the last 16.
After a 2-0 first-leg defeat on Braga's turf, Monaco went 3-0 down on aggregate after Alexander Nubel allowed Abel Ruiz's long-range effort to seep through his gloves into the back of the net, and Axel Disasi's late header could not inspire a magnificent turnaround.
Last week's 1-0 defeat to European hopefuls Strasbourg in Ligue 1 sees Monaco sitting in eighth place in the table - nine points adrift of the Champions League places and six adrift of the top five - but sporting director Paul Mitchell has publicly backed the under-fire Clement amid his side's miserable streak.
Les Monegasques have now posted just one win from their last eight matches in all competitions - which was a hard-fought 1-0 success at Marseille to give credit where credit is due - but four defeats from their last six does not set them up well for a meeting with the runaway leaders.
Monaco can be encouraged by the fact that they have only lost one of their last 11 league games at the Stade Louis II - although it was the most recent one to an injury-hit Reims - and for all the attacking talent at Clement's disposal, he just cannot get his forward line to gel.
© Reuters
Following yet another Champions League capitulation at the hands of Real Madrid, the Ligue 1 title is the only saving grace for Mauricio Pochettino now, and his side at least managed to return to winning ways with a 3-0 success over a hapless Bordeaux in the capital.
Kylian Mbappe, Leandro Paredes and Neymar were all on target at the Parc des Princes, but the latter and Lionel Messi were the targets of boos from the home crowd during the contest, with the PSG fanbase less than impressed with the efforts of their South American stars throughout the season.
Pochettino's demands for "respect" for Neymar and Messi may fall on deaf ears, but Nice's failure to overcome Montpellier HSC has allowed Les Parisiens to open up a 15-point gap at the top of the standings as they endeavour to end a miserable streak of form on the road.
Indeed, PSG have suffered three consecutive defeats on rival turf in all competitions following their Bernabeu collapse and have only prevailed in one of their last six away from home in Ligue 1, but Monaco's frailties are there to be exposed.
Pochettino oversaw a 2-0 win over Monaco at the Parc des Princes back in December - seven months after PSG had won by the same scoreline in the final of the 2020-21 Coupe de France - although their most recent trip to the Stade Louis II ended in a 3-2 loss.
- W
- D
- D
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- L
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Monaco midfielder Jean Lucas returned from a domestic ban to play 52 minutes in the Europa League defeat to Braga, but Cesc Fabregas and Krepin Diatta both remain sidelined due to injury.
Clement did not pick up any fresh concerns in Thursday's game but will certainly consider alterations, with Aleksandr Golovin - whose corner provided Disasi with the late equaliser - potentially displacing Sofiane Diop.
Nubel's error in midweek is unlikely to see him lose his place, but Guillermo Maripan is a candidate to displace the recently-recovered Benoit Badiashile in the heart of the rearguard.
Meanwhile, PSG midfielder Marco Verratti is back from a suspension served in the Bordeaux win, while Ander Herrera was back in full training earlier this week after recovering from an eye infection but has not been named in the squad.
Sergio Ramos is also yet to return from a calf issue, with Angel Di Maria's hamstring problem set to keep him sidelined alongside left-backs Juan Bernat (calf) and Layvin Kurzawa (back).
Other than Verratti's expected return in the middle - most likely in place of Georginio Wijnaldum - it should be as you were for PSG and Pochettino, who has also seen Messi and Keylor Navas come down with the flu in recent hours.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Aguilar, Disasi, Maripan, Henrique; Martins, Fofana, Tchouameni, Golovin; Ben Yedder, Volland
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Mendes; Paredes, Pereira, Verratti; Draxler, Mbappe, Neymar
We say: Monaco 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain
Battling fatigue, low confidence levels and a dismal streak of form, Monaco need perfect performances from their entire first XI to come away with something here, but their respectable home record can give fans a slight sense of optimism.
However, a near full-strength PSG are refreshed and seeking to wrap up the Ligue 1 title as quickly as possible, and Pochettino can pile more pressure onto the shoulders of Clement with a routine victory at the Stade Louis II.
Top 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 Paris Saint-Germain win with a probability of 42.42%. A win for Monaco had a probability of 33.84% and a draw had a probability of 23.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Paris Saint-Germain win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.89%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (7.44%) and 0-2 (6.13%). The likeliest Monaco win was 2-1 (7.82%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.78%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 2.3% likelihood.
