AS Monaco vs PSG Prediction: Mbappe saga will definitely affect the team

AS Monaco will go head-to-head with the Ligue 1 leaders PSG in the 24th round of the Ligue 1. They had a tough game last weekend against RC Lens and they won the game 3-2, thanks to Takumi Minamino's goal in the 92nd minute. And for PSG, they had a tight game against Stade Rennes last weekend. There was nothing to separate both sides at the end as they played to a 1-1 draw at full time. 

AS Monaco are hoping to continue their new form after suffering inconsistencies for some time now and PSG need to get back to winning ways as they prepare for the 2nd leg of the Champions League knockout round in the coming week. 

AS Monaco

AS Monaco are far from the team everyone expects them to be at the moment and there's every reason not to trust them against Paris Saint Germain. They had quite a good game against RC Lens, a little bit surprising for the neutrals as no one expected AS Monaco to turn up against RC Lens. But in the opening 30 minutes they had a 2-goal lead and although they allowed RC Lens to draw level by the 77th minute, they were still able to win the game with Takumi Minamino scoring the winner in the 92nd minute. And on the statistics, AS Monaco were behind in most aspects as they had 41% possession, 8 shots on target and 3 corner kicks in that game. 

Takumi Minamino was arguably the best player for Monaco in the game. He had 58% pass accuracy, 2 of 7 long passes completed, 1 shot on target and 1 goal scored. 

AS Monaco's coach Adolf Hütter deployed a 4-4-2 formation in the game against RC Lens. But he might look to tweek the tactics to cope against the dominance of PSG’s play style. Wissam Ben Yedder and Folarin Balogun are likely going to be leading the attacking lineup once again. 

Paris Saint Germain

Paris Saint Germain are still comfortably seated at the top of the Ligue 1 table, 11 points ahead of Stade Brest in 2nd spot. They dropped 2 points last weekend following a 1-1 draw with Stade Rennes and they would very much want to keep the distance by avoiding dropping more points in the Ligue 1. PSG still remain unbeaten in their last 19 matches in all competitions.

Paris Saint Germain will travel to the Stade Louis II to face AS Monaco. Last time they played at this venue, they won 3-1 back in February last year. Tactically Luis Enrique is expected to maintain the same setup as he did against Stade Rennes last weekend. He deployed a 4-3-3 with Kylian Mbappe, Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele leading the front lines. 

However, Kylian Mbappe was subbed off in the 65th minute and Gonçalo Ramos was brought on. It's not something that has happened frequently but Luis Enrique responded that the club needs to learn to play without Kylian Mbappe who is out of contract and Real Madrid-bound at the end of the season. At this point, there's a huge doubt as to how much the PSG skipper Kylian Mbappe will be involved in the team from here on.

Head to Head

In the last 20 meetings between AS Monaco and Paris Saint Germain, Paris Saint Germain won 13 times, while AS Monaco won 4 times and they played a draw 3 times.

Analysis and Predictions

This should be a riveting clash between two top teams in the Ligue 1. Paris Saint Germain are favorites in every game but there's a certain feeling that the team might be heading towards a hard time especially with the Kylian Mbappe contract saga. Kylian Mbappe has been the standout player for PSG for a few years now and it's difficult to see how the team manages without him although that is something Luis Enrique will be working hard to correct.

Analysis shows AS Monaco are without a clean sheet in the last 3 meetings against PSG and PSG are without a clean sheet in the last 4 meetings. There were also less than 10.5 corners in 7 of their last 9 meetings. 

• Both Teams to Score and Over 2.5 Goals at 1.667 Odds
• Both Teams to Score and Over 2.5 Goals at 1.667 Odds
• Correct Score 1-2 at 9.00 Odds