Looking ahead to the 11th day of Ligue 1 football, AS Monaco is traveling to Nantes tonight (8:45 pm), in second place in the league table behind Paris Saint-Germain. Revitalized following a convincing win against Rennes (3-2), Leonardo Jardim’s men will seek to clinch their first away win of the season. But beware of the effectiveness of Christian Gourcuff’s new FC Nantes!
For the first time this season, the Portuguese coach will really be spoiled for choice to compose his starting lineup against Nantes. The suspensions that have hampered the team since the 1st day of the championship have all been cleared… This time, there will be some welcome faces back in the 3-5-2 system, which is starting to show promise with Monaco’s players. If the three central defenders still need polishing (Badiashile-Glik-Jemerson), the middle trident Golovin-Fabregas-Bakayoko is beginning to look well-oiled. With Ben Yedder-Slimani, an attacking duo that is beginning to make a lot of noise in Europe, Monaco is armed to – finally – win its first away game of the season.
Watch out for set-pieces
But in a stadium in La Beaujoire that should attract more than 25,000 spectators, Nantes intends to continue its winning ways. “The team is second in the standings, it’s a quality team with plenty of motivation,” said Jardim in a press conference on Wednesday. If Christian Gourcuff will do without, Louza (suspended), and Coco, Traore, and Benavente (injured), he can count on Coulibaly to score in clutch moments, as he has often made the difference since the beginning of the season. To win, ASM must be rigorous and alert on corners and free kicks. And count, once again, on the effectiveness of its attacking duo, of course…
*Article originally published in the French edition of the Monaco Tribune.