PSG will make the most of Monaco's gifts
Friday evening's huge match in Ligue 1 sees the most moneyed clubs, AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain, take each other on in the principality stadium of Stade Louis II. The hosts are in patchy form, whilst the visitors have successfully arrested their shocking start to the campaign by going on an eight game (and counting) winning streak in France's top tier. As with recent years, what's been as notable about Les Monégasques is their propensity to leak goals as much as score them. Thomas Tuchel's charges seldom need an invitation to their opponents' penalty area, but they're sure to get them in a nevertheless competitive clash. Read our preview here:
Ineffective Jovetić
With the obvious exception of Wissam Bin Yedder, none of the other much vaunted forwards and attack-minded midfielders have contributed in the goals department quite as much as head coach Niko Kovač would like. Chief amongst the underperformers has been Montenegrin Stevan Jovetić, who as a consequence of his poor club form has had to settle mostly for cameo roles from the bench, in sharp contrast to his star status for country. The move to a more conventional 4-4-2 shape in Monaco's previous outing away against Nice seemed to work the trick in stemming the tide of attacks the more porous 4-3-3 hitherto employed. The issue with that shift, if sustained, is it discounts a lot of the wider players from starting, especially those like Jovetić that don't have a natural tendency to help out in defensive situations. Kevin Volland is also not a natural fit as a main striker, and the squad, as bloated as it is, lacks experienced talent to perform there. Nevertheless, they'll need to have some pragmatism against PSG, so defending from the front is a must when they lose possession.
Moise is poised
Despite only conceding three goals in the league thus far, Les Parisiens have not been watertight in their rearguard. Whilst that may feel like nitpicking when their differential is already +23, they have looked weak from aerial duels, and do give up chances if and when their midfield is bypassed. Whilst their Champions League travails are well documented, domestically, they are already opening a gap. Especially pleasing have been the contributions of Moise Kean, who has already eclipsed his haul for Everton during the entirety of 2019/2020 whilst on loan at the capital club. He's been especially impressive at using his pace and agility to beat offside traps, and time his runs well to finish off low crosses. With the opposition so lax in cutting out individual errors, he's sure to pounce whenever the opportunities present themselves.
Make it rain
The previous recent meetings between the two giants have tended to be goalfests, and there's little evidence to suggest that will change on Friday. Although not normally an advocate of 'doubles', Betfair are offering 3.40 for the visitors to triumph and over 3.5 goals in the match. A cursory glance at the wealth of options available to Tuchel, coupled with the soft centres at both ends, make this extremely tempting.
