A closely fought contest is on the cards as Braga host Monaco in their Europa League round of 16 first leg clash on Thursday. There appears to be little to separate both teams at the moment and they are likely to cancel each other out in this one.
Braga needed penalties before seeing off Sheriff Tiraspol in the round of 32 playoffs. After suffering a 2-0 defeat in the first leg, they won 2-0 in the return fixture in Portugal before edging out the Moldovan side in the shootout.
Braga are currently on a four-match unbeaten run, although the last two fixtures have ended in draws. They head into Thursday’s clash off the back of a 1-1 result with Boavista in the Primeira Liga last Saturday.
Carlos Carvalhal’s men have struggled in front of goal and have scored more than one goal only once in their last five matches across all competitions.
Monaco were one of the more impressive teams during the round robbing stage of the Europa League and finished top of a group that included Real Sociedad and PSV. They also went unbeaten, claiming three wins and three draws from their six matches.
The French giants have not been at their best lately and only just snapped a four-match winless run last Sunday. They claimed a 1-0 victory at Marseille in a Ligue 1 fixture last weekend with Gelson Martins’ second half effort proving to be the difference.
Monaco have also shown some quality on their recent travels with their only loss in the last four away matches, a shootout defeat to Nantes in the Coupe de France. Philippe Clement’s men have also played out two regulation time draws in their last three matches.
How the bookies view it
The bookies appear to be split on this one with a win for Braga priced at 31/16 with SBK while a victory for Monaco is valued at 17/10 with Quinnbet. A draw is set at odds of 47/20 with Unibet.
Head to head
The only previous meeting between Braga and Monaco was a Friendly in 2019 which ended 0-0.
Players to watch
Braga will be keen to keep things tight at the back with David Carmo and Paulo Oliveira likely to continue in central defence. Both men will be targeting a clean sheet on Thursday at 9/4 with betfair.
Defensive solidity is also likely to be a priority for Monaco after shutting out Marseille last Sunday. Benoit Badiashile and Axel Diassi should continue their partnership at centre-back and can lead the visitors to another clean sheet at 5/2 with Skybet.
Anything else catch the eye?
There have been few goals in recent matches involving Braga and Monaco while their only meeting in 2019 produced no goals. Under 2.5 goals could be on the cards at 10/11 with bet365 while BTTS NO can also be considered at 21/20 with Sport Nation.
Thursday’s clash is likely to be a closely fought encounter which means a halftime draw could also be on the cards at 19/17 with Vbet.
This UEFA Europa League match between SC Braga and Monaco will be played on Mar 10, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best SC Braga vs Monaco prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.