Champions League: Manchester City- AS Monaco
Le Grand Foot discuss Monaco every week, so most of you should be well aware of what they bring to the party and that is goals and lots of them and they are as far removed as the ASM of 2-3 seasons ago, as almost any team in world football is. In 2014-15 their Ligue 1 goal difference at this stage was 26-19, last season 37-29, this time round it is 76-24 ! So, they have found an additional 50/39 goals respectively whilst conceding around the same number at the other end of the pitch ! Combined with a small fall off domestically for PSG, that has left Monaco top of the table after 26 rounds, with a three point lead, in the last 16 of the Champions League and National Cup competition and final of the Coupe de la Ligue ! You might feel that something has to give, but nothing has and until it does, this is a talented team, very pleasing on the eye, who are probably still improving and quickly !
Ahead of an early season trip to Wembley to face Tottenham my notes included ..............
Tottenham are in their first Champions League campaign for six seasons, they have limited experience of the competition in their ranks and I am not sure that moving these games to Wembley, helps their high pressing style on a bigger, more open, energy sapping surface. They have trained at the national stadium just once, last month, head coach Mauricio Pochettino is clearly a little concerned (or maybe just thorough) as afterwards he had two pitches laid out to the same dimensions at their training ground. Pochettino said:“You have more space to play, it’s more difficult for the opponent to press you when there are more metres to run, but it is the same for both.“We believe in the way we play and it’s a good chance to play on a big pitch, we need to adapt our game. "We feel good at White Hart Lane because it’s our home and we need to feel good at Wembley.”
Spurs did not impress me as much as they did other watchers in what looks a great (on paper) 4-0 away win at Stoke over the weekend and I feel all of the games they have played so far (2-2-0) could have worked out differently and a lot has gone their way so far. Many of their key players were at their first major international tournament in the summer and my view is that they are still recovering.
Monaco are top of Ligue 1 and were certainly no less impressive than Spurs in a 4-1 away win at Lille on Saturday, they played with great pace and width, so Wembley should suit, they will be stronger today with a couple of regulars returning and arrive full of confidence. ASM upgraded in the summer and feel they are very different from the side who lost 4-1 at White Hart Lane last December in the Europa League. That was a half hearted performance from the visitors who were already on their way out of a competition they were not committed to and they were at the time still playing catch up in Ligue 1 for a Champions League place, their target for the season. Already competition battle hardened through playoff games with Villarreal where they won both legs, I favour them to take a point this evening in what could be a very entertaining contest
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They impressed there and won 2-1 and took the return fixture by the same scoreline, they met Arsenal at this stage two seasons ago and won 3-1 at the Emirates and were knocked out and narrowly by Juventus (1-0 on aggregate) in the last eightand have obviously improved out of all recognition since. We have discussed many times Manchester City's failings defensively, especially against the best teams and they are going to struggle to keep this Monaco side, who clearly will not come to defend and like playing English teams, quiet for 90 minutes. If Monaco needed a boost, it surely came when they saw PSG beat Barcelona 4-0 last week and would have given them a clear indication of where they stand currently amongst the cream of european football and that is not too far behind !
1 unit "over" 3 goals 2.08 asian line/Sportmarket.
0.75 units AS Monaco to score two or more goals (over 1.5 ) 3.25-3.40 general quote.
Good Luck.
