Monaco will host Marseille on Saturday night, and the home side will be looking to build on their first league win of the season, that they achieved just before the international break.
For the visitors, they have accumulated seven points from their first three games and are looking to continue their unbeaten start to the league at the weekend.
Match preview
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Niko Kovac's side has experienced a difficult start to the season - they have only collected four points from their first four league fixtures, and were dumped out of the Champions League by Shakhtar Donetsk in the playoff round.
Monaco did win crucially before the international period after Sofiane Diop scored twice to help his team win 2-1 away to Troyes.
Worryingly, the home side have only scored three goals this season, with two of those coming in the win over Troyes, therefore Monaco's form in front of goal needs to improve if they are to advance up the table.
If Monaco have aspirations of replicating last season's third-place finish, then success at home will be paramount, and they will need to better the first two league games at Stade Louis II this season, which resulted in a draw and a loss.
Positively, last season Monaco won their home fixture against Marseille and this weekend they will be looking to replicate the 3-1 victory they achieved in January, although Marseille are always a challenge for the hosts - in fact Monaco have lost more home Ligue 1 games against Marseille than any other team.
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Although Marseille have played a game less than Monaco, due to the abandonment against Nice, they still sit three points higher than their opponents in the table and are yet to lose this season, winning twice and drawing on one occasion.
Jorge Sampaoli's side are certainly not a boring side to watch, with their three fixtures resulting in 13 goals, and Marseille have scored eight of them, with six of those eight goals scored by Cengiz Under and Dimitri Payet as the pair have both netted on three occasions in Ligue 1.
The nine-time French champions are vulnerable defensively though, having conceded at least one goal in their last 10 league fixtures, and in their only away fixture this season, they witnessed the ball hitting the back of their net twice in a 3-2 win over Montpellier.
Marseille are looking to win away at Monaco for the first time since September 2019, when both sides played out an exciting encounter that saw the visitors win 4-3 and a similar result this weekend would not be surprising given the number of goals that have already occurred in Marseille's fixtures this term.
The away team are looking to make it two wins in two games on the road this season and an away victory against Monaco, will keep the confidence flowing before they start their Europa League campaign next week.
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Team News
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Monaco are set to be without Aleksandr Golovin, who is likely to miss out through injury, while defender Djibril Sidibe is also not expected to be involved as the full-back is suffering from a muscle injury.
Forward Kevin Volland is still out with an ankle injury and will not feature at the weekend, so the responsibility falls to last season's top scorer Wissam Ben Yedder to lead the line.
After winning their most recent league game, Niko Kovac could name the same starting lineup that was successful against Troyes.
Marseille will have to do without Arkadiusz Milik, who is still injured as the Polish international is suffering from a knee problem.
It was announced during the week that Dimitri Payet and Alvaro Gonzalez were both handed suspensions for their role in the trouble that saw the game against Nice abandoned, with Payet suspended for one match and Gonzalez banned from the next two fixtures.
Without the services of Payet, Sampaoli must decide who will replace the Frenchman, with Bamba Dieng and Luis Henrique potential candidates to come into the starting lineup.
Leonardo Balerdi is available after suspension and new signing Amine Harit could make his debut but is expected to be on the bench to begin with.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Aguilar, Maripan, Badiashile, Henrique; Tchouameni, Fofana, Jean Lucas; Diop, Martins, Ben Yedder
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Mandanda; Saliba, Balerdi, Peres; Rongier, Kamara, Guendouzi, Gerson; Under, De la Fuente, Henrique
We say: Monaco 2-2 Marseille
Monaco will be aware that Marseille are susceptible defensively, but the home side must also be cautious as Marseille will always threaten.
Despite Payet not being available to the visitors, there still should be a feast of goals in this clash and an open encounter can be expected.
Top tip
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 49.14%. A win for Marseille had a probability of 26.4% and a draw had a probability of 24.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Monaco win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.18%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.52%) and 2-0 (8.37%). The likeliest Marseille win was 0-1 (7.05%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.58%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 4% likelihood.
