- Juventus are on a roll in Serie A and have won three of their last five competitive games.
- Monaco have won only one of their last five and have been hammered by Real Madrid, Lyon, and Lorient.
- Juventus have a perfect record against Monaco in UEFA competitions (W4, D1, L0) and knocked the French club out in the last 16 in 2017.
Monaco face a mighty mountain against Juventus
AS Monaco will need to dig deep to grab a result against a superior Juventus side in Wednesday’s Champions League clash at the Stade Louis II. The hosts will need something from this game to stay in the playoff contention after Juve’s perfect run to 12 points from a possible 12, compared to Monaco’s nine.
Sébastien Pocognoli has overseen a solid start to his time in charge of the French giants, but his side have slipped to mid-table in Ligue 1 and remain in a rut, winning just one of their last five. Defeats to Real Madrid (6-1), Lyon (1-3), and Lorient (1-3) have exposed Monaco’s fragilities and Pocognoli will have to get his team to play with real discipline to get anything from this one.
The most likely scenario is that Monaco will try to be compact and deny Juventus space, then look to counterattack and hit on the break. But Luciano Spalletti’s flexible, possession-based system is designed to break compact blocks down with the ball and clever rotations and it could be a chess match between these two in what is a huge fixture for both sides.
Juve can outclass their hosts
Juventus are on a hot streak in Serie A with 42 points, and they have beaten Napoli 3-0 and Benfica 2-0 among their recent assignments. A win for them here would be a massive step towards direct qualification to the Round-of-16, whereas Monaco would pull off a huge upset to stay in the hunt for the play-offs.
Juve have a better squad, are in better form and have a superior head-to-head record, so we are taking the visitors to edge this one despite Monaco’s decent odds of 13/5. Over 2.5 goals looks a solid price too at 7/10 given the circumstances and Monaco’s defensive issues in January. Philipp Köhn remains their first-choice goalkeeper, but the defense in front of him has conceded multiple goals in January.
Aleksandr Golovin and Maghnes Akliouche provide the creativity in the advanced roles for Monaco, but their best chance is to score on the counter and hope their defence remains in shape at the back. Juventus, who are likely to be without Dusan Vlahović, have a number of dependable players in the front two and midfield areas in Jonathan David, Loïs Openda, Kenan Yıldız, Khéphren Thuram and Weston McKennie.
Juve have the players to unlock Monaco
David is in particularly fine form for Juve, having scored a key goal at Napoli, while Yıldız can add goals and assists with his creativity. David, as a big target man, is perfect for Spalletti’s system as he is always available up top and can hold the ball up for his teammates when Juve are under pressure.
Juve’s back four have been holding firm with recent clean sheets and look to be under the Italian manager’s control. Monaco will come at them in the second half, but Juventus’ ball-control and pressing structure should prevent any sucker punches and allow them to claim the points they need to consolidate their position in the group.
