The last time that Monaco had lost a Ligue 1 match prior to Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Lille, they responded with three consecutive triumphs, so they’ll be looking for a similar response this time in order to stay in touch with the league leaders. Despite drawing a rare blank, they remained the league’s joint-highest scorers after the previous round, but missed a valuable opportunity to advance to the top of the table. It left manager Adi Hütter lamenting that his side lost focus at crucial moments.
That should mean that Hütter has his side focused here to add to their positive record against Brest, which has seen the Monegasques win the last four home H2Hs and win both fixtures last season against the side from Brittany. Also in their favour is a record of four wins from their five home league fixtures this term (L1), and with those victories all coming in games that produced 3+ total goals, entertainment could well be on offer if they can rediscover their winning ways.
Brest almost claimed a point against Paris Saint-Germain last weekend (L 3-2), only for a late goal to condemn them. It was a bitter pill to swallow given they had 21 goal attempts to PSG’s 17! Despite failing to win their last four Ligue 1 matches (D2, L2), they remain handily placed in the top half courtesy of their best ten-game start (W4, D3, L3) to a season Ligue 1 since 2010/11, a season in which they beat Monaco ‘to nil’ both home and away.
If the Pirates can penetrate Monaco’s defence, they might feel confident of riding a wave towards victory as they won their last three league away trips in which they netted, with all three fixtures finishing 2-1! But scoring first might be hugely important for both sides, because seven of the last nine H2Hs hosted by Monaco (W2, L7 for Brest) saw only one team score on the day.
Players to watch: Aleksandr Golovin recorded three of his four Ligue 1 goals this term between the 35th and 55th minutes whilst he scored a 54th-minute winner in this fixture last season. Brest’s Steve Mounié could threaten slightly earlier than that, as his strike against PSG was the fourth of his last five to come between the 30th and 50th minutes.
Hot stat: Monaco haven’t conceded at home between the 31st and 75th minutes this Ligue 1 season.
