Lens-Monaco is a match valid for the thirty-second final of the French Cup and is played on Sunday at 2:30 pm: live TV, predictions, likely formations.
It immediately gives a great challenge the French Cup, which comes into full swing this weekend: in the thirty-second round two Ligue 1 teams face each other, which at the moment occupy the top of the standings and are fighting for a place in the next European cups. We are talking about Lens and Monaco, respectively seventh and third forces in the top transalpine league.
Franck Haise’s men, who last year held their own against French champions Psg to the last, even snatching a historic qualification to the Champions League group stage, have managed to make up ground after a disastrous start, to say the least. And now they have 26 points, five less than fourth-placed Brest. In February Lens will be engaged in the Europa League: third place in the Champions League group earned them relegation to the second continental competition, but to advance to the round of 16 they will have to get the better of a play-off with Germany’s Freiburg. In the last Ligue 1 match, staged last Dec. 20, the Giallorossi had instead had to deal with the bitter taste of defeat, losing 2-0 in Nice and breaking a positive series that had lasted since September (in the league).
The African Cup of Nations has decimated Monaco
Monaco’s more consistent and linear path, which unlike Lens is not engaged in Europe.
(Ben Yedder (Instagram)
The former coach of Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Monchengladbach, Adi Hutter, is in any case doing a very good job, bringing the Monegasques back to the top of the table after a year to forget, ended out of it all. The Principality’s club is now third, behind Psg and Nice, and in the last period it has been on a roll again, scoring three wins in four matches. Before the Christmas break, Monaco had gone on a winning run at home to Toulouse (1-2), folded despite numerical inferiority due to Golovin’s expulsion early in the second half. Hutter in the challenge with Lens will have to do without several players engaged with their respective national teams in the African Cup of Nations: Singo, Salisu, Camara, Diatta and Jakobs will not be there, but the Japanese Minamino, summoned for the Asian Cup, will also be missing from the roll call.
The Prediction
Last September Lens was soundly defeated in the Principality (3-0), but that was the period when the yellow and red were unrecognizable. They could return the favor to the Monegasques in the cup, taking advantage of the many absences Hutter has to deal with. The home team should therefore avoid defeat in a match that could reserve excitement and spectacle: at least three goals total.
Lens-Monaco’s likely lineups
LENS (3-4-2-1): Samba; Danso, Medina, Maouassa; Aguilar, El Aynaoui, Fulgini, Frankowski; Sotoca, Costa; Said.
MONACO (3-4-1-2): Kohn; Magassa, Maripan, Matsima; Akliouche, Vanderson, Zakaria, Fofana; Boadu; Balogun, Ben Yedder.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-2