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Monaco v Lille
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Kick Off: Friday 18th October at 19:45
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Competition: Ligue 1
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Watch Live: Ligue 1 Pass
Monaco are looking to up the pressure on PSG in Ligue 1 with a victory over Lille in Friday night’s encounter as they return from international duty.
Adi Hutter’s side moved to the summit of the standings before the two-week truce, having gone undefeated in their nine fixtures across all competitions so far this season.
Lille have been going well lately, too, with a 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the Champions League the highlight of a current three-match win streak that has eased the pressure on head coach Bruno Genesio, which had built during a four-game losing run.
⭐ Monaco v Lille Best Bets
Thomas Meunier skipped international duty to rest and is likely to be given a big role following the news that Tiago Santos is to miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.
The Belgian has managed at least one shot in each of his four Ligue 1 starts this season, with a total of eight shots coming in those games.
Lille lean heavily on their wing-backs to provide an attacking threat, with all their starting players in this area posting significant shooting figures. As such, a fully fit Meunier to have a shot at 2/5 looks a very strong price.
👕 Monaco v Lille Predicted XI
🔍 Monaco v Lille Key Players
🔴 George Ilenikhena
This is a big chance for George Ilenikhena to make an impact on the Monaco team. Folarin Balogun is out injured and it seems improbable for Breel Embolo to be risked after playing a big role for Switzerland over the break.
The 18-year-old mustered two shots for Monaco in his only previous start for the club, but at Anderlecht last season he had 1.57 shots on target per 90 for a team that finished sixth in Belgium.
With Monaco having an attacking attitude and likely to take the game to Lille, look for the confident youngster to try to take centre stage.
🔴 Aleksandr Golovin
Golovin has curiously failed to manage a shot on target for Monaco this season – but look for all that to change on Friday. The Russian should benefit from not having had any international duty, while it is surely just a matter of time before he finds his shooting boots.
He averages 2.0 shots per 90 in Ligue 1 this season, and while none of those have found the target, this is an anomaly given he had 51% shooting accuracy in Ligue 1 during 2022/23 and 43.2% last season.
⚪️ Mitchel Bakker
Bakker is in line for his first Ligue 1 start of the season with Gabriel Gudmundsson playing every minute for Sweden over the international break.
The Dutchman has started twice in the Champions League for Lille and committed fouls in each of those games, while he has also posted three fouls in 74 Ligue 1 minutes when coming off the bench – a rate of 3.75 per 90.
He could well find himself face-to-face with Golovin, who has won ten fouls at a rate of 3.33 per 90 this season.
📂 Monaco v Lille Cheat Sheet
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💻 Monaco v Lille Form and Tactics
Monaco are surprise Ligue 1 leaders after winning six of their first seven matches and drawing the other.
Head coach Adi Hutter has installed an attacking mentality into his team, which is evidenced by the 14.4 xG they have generated in the league this season – second in Ligue 1 behind only PSG (18.0). But while they are good going forward they are solid at the back too, having conceded just four times, the joint-lowest figure in the league.
They typically play in a 4-2-3-1 formation but switched to a 3-4-3 prior to the international break for a clash with Rennes. After generating a season-low 0.6xG, the experiment could well be aborted.
Monaco’s most prolific shooter is Folarin Balogun with 22 efforts this season, but he faces two months out injured, while Eliesse Ben Seghir (19) and Breel Embolo (12) could have their minutes limited following international action. As such, 18-year-old George Ilenikhena is expected to lead the line here.
Aleksandr Golovin, meanwhile, could be given more importance in a creative sense after a tricky start to the season on a personal level.
They are giving away 13.1 fouls per 90 but winning 14.7, which is the highest figure in the whole league. Ben Seghir has notably drawn 22 fouls, second-highest in all Ligue 1. Lamine Camara, meanwhile, is the main criminal, having committed 14 fouls at a rate of 2.98 per 90.
Lille come into this match after a winning streak of three games across all competitions but with something of a sour taste having lost Tiago Santos for the season due to injury. The right back had been a key feature of their play, linking up well with winger Eden Zhegrova, and it will be up to Thomas Meunier to replace him.
Indeed, getting the wing-backs forward has been a feature of Bruno Genesio’s side this season, with players from these areas posting big figures in terms of shots in Ligue 1. Meunier has 2.16 shots per 90, Gabriel Gudmundsson 0.94 and Mitchel Bakker 5.0, albeit the latter from under 90 minutes.
Jonathan David is the real kingpin of the attack. He leads Lille in shots and shots on target with 2.55 and 1.37 respectively per 90 when only players with more than 200 minutes of action are taken into account. Having played around two hours with Canada over the international break, it is something of a race against time for him to be ready for this game and it would be a big blow if he did not start.
In a defensive sense, Lille are extremely combative in the midfield, with defensive midfielders Benjamin Andre and Andre Gomes combining for 17 fouls in 733 minutes. Gomes, signed as a free agent, is picking up 3.64 per 90 and given he is not eligible to play in the Champions League, he can expect a big role in this game.
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🏁 Monaco v Lille Ref Watch
- Referee: Eric Wattellier
- Wattellier has overseen six matches this season in all competitions (including one in the Youth League) and has shown 28 cards in total at a rate of 4.67 per match.
- He oversaw Lille’s 2-0 win in Reims in August. Booked Lille players Ismaily and Ngal’ayel Mukau, both of whom have been injured of late. Showed five cards in total, including one red.
- He has shown two red cards this season, though none since August 17, and has awarded only one penalty.
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* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
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