Monaco vs Man City prediction, expected line-ups, how to watch and stats
Manchester City travel to Monaco on Wednesday night looking to tuck another Champions League victory under their belt at the Stade Louis II.
City and Monaco last met in a humdinger of a Champions League round of 16 clash in the 2016/17 campaign. City won the first leg 5-3 before going out on away goals 3-1 in Monaco. The neutrals will be thrilled if this latest match is just half of those games.
Pep Guardiola’s side claimed a 2-0 win over Napoli is their Champions League opener, part of their current run of four wins from five across all competitions.
Monaco have had an indifferent start to the season; they are fourth in the Ligue 1 table with four wins and two defeats, but they’ll still be licking their wounds from a 4-1 slapping by Club Brugge in their first match in the Champions League.
There were plenty of goals the last time these two sides met and this match has plenty of potential to be another high scorer.
Erling Haaland will play his 50th Champions League match, and he’ll be desperate to add to his 50 goals against a Monaco side who have conceded nine in the last three.
Monaco team news
Paul Pogba is unlikely to make his Monaco debut against Manchester City as he is still some way from full fitness.
Monaco will also be without Lamine Camara, Denis Zakaria, Aleksandr Golovin and number one goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.
Barcelona loanee Fati is pushing for a start after netting four goals from three substitute appearances, while Maghnes Akliouche could return after missing the game at the weekend with an illness.
Thilo Kehrer was sent off in the 3-1 defeat over Lorient at the weekend, but his upcoming suspension doesn’t impact the Champions League.
Monaco possible starting lineup
Kohn; Vanderson, Dier, Kehrer, Henrique; Akliouche, Coulibaly, Teze, Fati; Balogun, Biereth
Man City team news
Rodri missed that Premier League thumping of Burnley with a knee problem and could be a doubt for a trip to Monaco.
Abdukodir Khusanov, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki are all expected to miss out through injury.
Manchester City possible starting lineup
Donnarumma; Nunes, Stones, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Gonzalez; Bobb, Silva, Reijnders, Doku; Haaland
Monaco v Man City: How to watch and listen
The game will be live on TNT Sports 2 and discovery+, with coverage starting from 1945 and kick-off at 2000. There will also be live radio commentary on BBC Radio Five Live
Monaco v Man City stats
– City have lost three of last 21 league phase/group-stage games
– City have scored in 28 of their last 30 games in Europe
– City unbeaten in five
– City on a four-game losing streak in the Champions League on the road away
– Monaco have now lost five of their last seven matches in Europe
– Monaco have conceded 14 goals in seven league games
– City have failed to win two of their three Premier League away games
– Monaco are unbeaten at home this season and are on a nine-game unbeaten home run across all competitions.
Monaco v Man City predictions
If you are looking for goals the Stade Louis II is likely the best place to be. Monaco have scored 15 times in six games, while City have 18 from eight.
However, Monaco have been leaky, conceding 14 goals in seven matches across all competitions and being whacked by Club Brugge and Lorient in two of the last three games won’t help the confidence.
Over 3.5 goals has landed in all of Monaco’s home games this season and City have scored at least twice in four of their last five games.
Haaland has nine goals from seven in a City shirt this season, 13 goals in total if you include internationals. That includes the late brace against Burnley at the weekend, which took his run of scoring in consecutive Premier League matches to four.
Monaco haven’t kept a clean sheet this season, and have been turned over a couple of times. The Norwegian international can capitalise.
