Monaco-Lille is a rematch of the 29th day of Ligue 1 and is played Wednesday at 9 p.m.: stats, live TV, likely lineups, predictions.
Last Sunday, Adi Hutter’s Monaco beat Brest in a direct clash and took second place, overtaking the surprising Bretons in the standings. A less clear-cut victory than the final result (0-2) tells, but one that smells of Champions League.
The Monegasques, although at a sidereal distance from the leader PSG – by now one step away from the title, which could become mathematical in the event of Monaco’s failure to win in the rematch – have a good 8-point lead over the fifth, Nice. And, barring a collapse, they will be back in the elite of European soccer next year. One of the main protagonists of Monaco’s “rebirth” — best attack behind that of the Parisians — has been the Austrian coach, capable of transmitting his philosophy in just a few months to a group that came out of last season psychologically shattered. Hutter has managed to make the most of talented players such as the various Minamino, Balogun, Ben Yedder and Akliouche, making the most of their qualities and framing them in a system that is now well-tested.
The red and whites may have conceded a few too many goals-the worst defense among the current top seven teams in Ligue 1-but it is at the offensive level that they have made the difference (55 goals scored in 29 games).
Fonseca wants the podium
The goal, now, is to consolidate second place, keeping at arm’s length teams that could come up short, such as Paulo Fonseca’s Lille, on stage at the “Louis II” in the recovery of the 29th day.
The Dogues, who waved goodbye to the Conference League a week ago after giving Unai Emery’s Aston Villa a scare – the Englishmen edged it only on penalties – are fourth in the standings, -3 behind Monaco. Thanks to a 1-0 success over Strasbourg, pierced by a goal from Canadian David, they avoided losing altitude, remaining -5 behind Nice. Fonseca, however, wants to do everything to finish in the top three, since only finishing on the podium will qualify directly for the Champions League without going through the preliminaries.
The prediction
Monaco has some problems at home lately, as they have won only one of their last seven games in front of their home crowd. Statistics that lead us to consider a positive result from Lille, which already got the better of the Monegasques 2-0 in the first leg and has not lost against them since 2022. Both teams, in any case, should manage to score at least one goal.
The likely lineups for Monaco-Lille
MONACO (4-4-2): Majecki; Vanderson, Maripan, Salisu, Ouattara; Akliouche, Fofana, Zakaria, Diatta; Minamino, Ben Yedder.
LILLE (4-2-3-1): Chevalier; Santos, Diakité, Yoro, Ismaily; André, Bentaleb; Haraldsson, Cabella, Gudmundsson; David.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-2
