Monaco will hope to build on their sensational win over PSG when they travel to Brest’s Stade Francis-Le Ble, a stadium that’s not been very welcoming in recent years.
Brest’s back-to-back victories will finally allow the team to catch their breath, at least for a short while, after finally managing to escape the relegation zone. But in order to remain out of danger, they can’t afford any more bad streaks like the recent six matches without a win.
However, beating Monaco will be a challenge of a completely different level, even though the Monegasques are also far from being in optimal form, which may seem a strange statement after they beat champions PSG during the weekend.
Before this famous win, Monaco had lost three Ligue 1 fixtures in a row, including back-to-back 4-1 defeats. The Monegasques clearly have both the talent and the squad depth to play as equal with the best, but their own defence has been their worst enemy this season. Only three teams have conceded more goals than Monaco in 14 rounds (26).
How the bookies view it: They believe Brest are out of depth
Bookmakers all agree that the Monegasques have better chances to claim the spoils, but we can hardly call Monaco favourites with these odds. You can currently back Brest at 9/4, the draw at 11/4, and Monaco at 11/10.
Recent head-to-head: Brest ended a long streak of defeats
While Monaco have won most of the most recent encounters, Brest never made it easy for the visitors. In the grand scheme, the Monegasques won four of the last five H2Hs, scoring at least twice on every occasion.
But when we look at just the matches at Stade Francis-Le Ble, Brest won three of the last five.
Players to watch: It’s time for Minamino’s resurgence
Picking a suitable player in this matchup is difficult, as neither side has a distinguished top scorer. Predicting who may score is not as easy as with some other teams like PSG.
However, one player has stepped up since the end of the international break and deserves our attention. Former Liverpool forward Takumi Minamino put out back-to-back flawless performances, scoring against Pafos and PSG.
With Monaco being troubled by injuries, Minamino will be one of the main threats on Friday.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Probable line-ups
Brest: Coudert, Guindo, Chardonnet, Coulibaly, Lala, Magnetti, Chotard, Mboup, Doumbia, Castillo, Ajorque
Monaco: Hradecky, Henrique, Teze, Vanderson, Salisu, Camara, Coulibaly, Golovin, Minamino, Akliouche, Balogun
Anything else catch the eye?
Monaco and Brest share the same problems – their defences have mostly been reason for disappointments. And this is one of our reasons to believe that we may see more goals than usual.
Monaco have had the most goal-packed games this season and average 3.6 goals per match. They also conceded at least one goal in eight of their nine away games this season in all competitions, and this is why we believe BTTS is a valid pick here.
Brest will score at least once, but we believe Monaco have what it takes to claim the three points and close the gap to the top of the table. If they play like they did against PSG, then the hosts will have serious problems.
GambleAware