Following their sensational come from behind victory over Paris Saint-Germain last weekend, AS Monaco quickly turn their attention to Nimes on Sunday.
Looking to secure a fourth straight win, Monaco will be buoyed by the returns of star forward Wissam Ben Yedder and Ruben Aguilar. Although Nimes have struggled for consistency and have shipped a hefty 19 goals, Niko Kovac rightly highlighted their solid away form in his pre-match presser. “Nimes’s results over their last five away games are very good,” he said.
“They notably drew in Lyon and won in Montpellier and Reims, keeping a clean sheet each time. We therefore expect an aggressive team that will defend for 90 minutes, which will play with a lot of intensity and who will try to play on the counter. We must continue to play as we are currently doing and be careful not to leave ourselves vulnerable at the back.”
Boasting some excellent players all the over the pitch, including Zinedine Ferhat, Andres Cubas, Loick Landre, Renaud Ripart, Niclas Eliasson, Kevin Denkey, Patrick Burner and Birger Meling (injured for this match), Kovac was justified in his calls for focus.
Interestingly, Monaco actually haven’t beaten Nimes in league play since 2013, where they defeated them back in a Ligue 2 clash, so they’ll be eager to wipe this poor record.
Currently sitting second, securing all three points would be huge for Monaco’s chances of staying in the hunt for the Champions League places. If they can keep up their impressive form, then there’s every chance they’ll grab a crucial home win over Les Crocodiles.
With a perfect record in November so far, a win over Nimes would be a fitting way to end what’s been a fantastic month for the club.