Matchday 11 of French Ligue 1 gets underway this Friday, 25th October when second-placed FC Nantes welcomes principality side AS Monaco to the Stade de la Beaujoire-Louis Fonteneau.
This will be the 37th meeting between the two sides with Monaco enjoying the lion’s share of victories having won 18 as against the 11 games won by their hosts. Nantes will also be wary of facing a side that has defeated them in four out of their last five encounters.
Nantes can, however, take solace in how well they have begun the season. They have won six matches out of their opening ten fixtures and positioned themselves as potential title challengers. The Canaries are 5 points adrift of league leaders Paris Saint-Germain and will be keen to cut the point’s gap on the champions before they play later on Sunday night.
The Brittany based side have been imperious at home, winning four of their five home games while impressively yet to concede a single goal in front of their home fans.
Nantes coach Christian Gourcuff seems to have built a side based on defensive solidity having conceded only six goals so far this season. However, the attack hasn’t been so prolific considering that they have only managed to score more than one goal once this season. The Canaries will have to improve their attacking stats as they get set to face their bogey team Monaco.
Coach Gourcuff has no fresh injury worries ahead of Friday’s clash except for Marcus Coco and Charles Traore who are both long term injury casualties. Club top goal scorer Kalifa Coulibaly will mostly likely continue to lead the line alongside impressive loan signing Moses Simon. The Nigerian international has been a key fixture in Nantes starting eleven this season and will be aiming to another goal to the two he has scored so far this season.
By contrast, Monaco who are currently 14th on the log, has had a very average season so far, boasting the division’s worst defence having already conceded 21 goals. Their attack has been their saving grace this season having scored 18 goals with league top goal scorer Wissam Ben Yedder responsible for 8 of them.
The Frenchman has formed a deadly strike partnership with Algerian Islam Slimani, which has accounted for almost 80% of Monaco’s goals this season. Monaco Coach Leonardo Jardim will be hoping his talented squad can begin to leave up to their potential as he tries to drag them up the table.
It will be interesting to see which side comes up tops between Nantes defensive frugality and Monaco’s attacking flair when the match kicks off at 7.45 PM. Friday evening.
Nantes are priced at 2.84 to defeat Monaco, while Monaco are backed to win the encounter 2.60
Written by: Ayotunde Omolayole
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