Ferencvaros can clinch a place in the knockout stage of the Europa League with a victory on Thursday at Groupama Arena against Monaco.
The reigning champions of Hungary are at the top of Group H with nine points after edging Red Star Belgrade 2-1 on matchday four, while Les Monegasques suffered a 4-0 defeat at Trabzonspor as they currently sit third with six points.
Match preview
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Heading into their penultimate group stage fixture, FTC are on the verge of doing something they have never achieved in over 50 years at this competition.
The last time they were able to advance beyond the group stage of this tournament was in the 1971-72 season, when it was known as the UEFA Cup, and Ferencvaros were eliminated in the semi-finals by Wolves.
Stanislav Cherchesov has seen his team score the opening goal in all three of their group-stage victories, though domestically, they have been a little complacent when scoring first.
They lost 2-1 versus Mezokovesd and 3-2 against Ivancsa at the Magyar Kupa despite taking a 1-0 lead on both occasions within the opening five minutes.
Zold Sasok have won seven successive home fixtures in all competitions, and a victory on Thursday would equal four straight European triumphs in Budapest, the first time they had achieved that since August 1999.
During the group stage of this tournament, Ferencvaros have often been under siege in their third of the field and managed to escape, conceding a total of 25 shots on target in four games but producing the second-most saves (18).
The league leaders in Hungary have already scored more goals away from home in this year's competition (two) than they had a season ago, while they defeated Les Monegasques 1-0 in the Principality for their first victory as the visitors in the Europa League since 2019-20.
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One error on matchday four has sent Monaco into a tailspin domestically and in Europe, as they are winless in their last three games, losing their previous Europa League clash in Turkey.
Before that defeat, Les Monegasques had been on a pretty good roll, winning four consecutive matches in all competitions, allowing just two goals over that span, but they have now conceded nine goals in their last three fixtures.
On Sunday, they suffered their first domestic defeat away from home (4-3 versus Lille) since March of last season, and they have only triumphed once in their previous five European road fixtures.
French sides, though, have fared well in Hungary of late, winning four of their last five UEFA Cup/Europa League visits there.
Thursday will be the first time that a team from Ligue 1 will travel to Hungary since Paris Saint-Germain won 1-0 at Ujpest in October 2002.
Philippe Clement's men have not won a road fixture all season when conceding the opening goal be it domestically or in Europe, but since the Belgian took charge of this team a year ago, they have 31 points on the road in league play this year.
Before their defeat at Trabzonspor, Monaco had been pretty sharp along the backline away from home, going unbeaten in four straight matches in all competitions, posting three successive clean sheets.
Team News
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Samy Mmaee put home his first of the Europa League on matchday four, which stood up as the winner for Ferencvaros, with the other strike coming from Kristoffer Zachariassen, while Samy's brother Ryan Mmaee had a goal in their 4-2 triumph over Puskas Akademia FC on Saturday.
Balint Vecsei had the only goal in their previous match in Monaco in mid-September, as Denes Dibusz made six saves to collect his only clean sheet of the competition to date.
We saw four changes to their lineup from matchday three to four as Lorand Paszka, Vecsei, Amer Gojak and Ryan Mmaee replaced Henry Wingo, Aissa Laidouni, Tokmac Nguen and Franck Boli.
Some miscommunication between Alexander Nubel and his defender Malang Sarr seemed to change the momentum of their match against Trabzonspor, as the Monaco keeper's clearance deflected off Sarr for the opening goal as they suffered their largest defeat in a Europa League/UEFA Cup clash.
Wissam Ben Yedder ended a two-match scoreless drought this weekend in a loss versus Lille, while their only away goal in this Europa League campaign came courtesy of Breel Embolo from the penalty spot on matchday one.
Clement only made one change to his starting 11 from matchday three to four in this competition, as Sarr replaced Benoit Badiashile at the back.
Ferencvaros possible starting lineup:
Dibusz; Botka, S. Mmaee, Knoester, Paszka; Vecsei, Esiti; Zachariassen, Gojak, Traore; R. Mmaee
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Henrique, Badiashile, Disasi, Vanderson; Golovin, Fofana, Camara, Martins; Ben Yedder, Volland
We say: Ferencvaros 1-2 Monaco
Monaco are often their own worst enemy in these European fixtures, making critical errors that can completely change the complexion of a game, although they have never lost consecutive matches in a European competition.
On the opposite side, Ferencvaros tend to sit back and sustain a lot of pressure, and while that has been successful for them in the group stage thus far, we expect to see an angry Monaco side unleash its frustrations on the Hungarians.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
