While Bordeaux got their season off to a perfect start by winning at Montpellier, Monaco were beaten at home by Lorient and no doubt they will be looking to prove the doubters wrong at Stade Chaban-Delmas. And with the two sides pretty evenly matched at the moment, chances are we will see a very close encounter.

Willy Sagnol starts with a win

Just like several other top sides in France, Bordeaux have endured some difficult years of late, mostly because they have been unable to keep hold of their star players or sign quality replacements. The likes of Gouffran, Marange, Modeste, Tremoulinas, Obraniak and Orban have all left over the last year or so, with only low-profile players arriving at Stade Chaban-Delmas. Bordeaux, nonetheless, played some good football last season to achieve a seventh-placed finish in Ligue 1, before former France international Willy Sagnol took over the reigns. Les Girondins played some tight games in pre-season, proving they will be a tough nut to crack this season, with their defensive qualities there for everyone to see in the 1-0 away triumph over Montpellier in the first match of the new season. Another quality defensive performance is a must if les Girondins are to prevent star-studded Monaco from winning at Stade Chaban-Delmas, so everything suggests the hosts will not be prepared to risk too much as they would probably settle for one point as well.

Abdou Traore and Andre Biyogho Poko are definitely out, while Jaroslav Plasil is injury doubt. New signing from Bayern Munich Diego Contento is in line to start.

Falcao scores on his return

In spite of the heavy recruitment, Monaco were never going to have an easy job mounting a serious title challenge immediately upon their return to the elite division, so the Principality club have got to be congratulated for finishing the campaign mere nine points behind champions Paris Saint-Germain. The squad have since undergone some serious changes as Rodriguez, Riviere, Abidal and Obbadi left, while Abdennour, Bakayoko, Bernardo Silva and Stekelenburg arrived at Stade Louis II. Everything suggests the transfer window is not yet over for Leonardo Jardim and his side, with the club desperately looking for a natural successor to James Rodriguez. Monaco were far from impressive in their opening fixture against Lorient, having largely struggled to break their less illustrious opponents, with the only positive in the 2-1 defeat the fact that Radamel Falcao scored on his return into action. The Colombian is not yet fit enough to start, meaning Dimitar Berbatov will again start as a lone striker, and chances are the visitors will find it hard to open up a very good Bordeaux defence.

Full-back Andrea Raggi returns from suspension, while Jeremy Toulalan might again have to settle for a place on the bench. Ricardo Carvalho is banned.

Verdict

While Monaco are still trying to adapt to life without James Rodriguez and largely struggle in the creative department, Bordeaux may not be too dangerous up front, but they are very organised at the back and not allowing too many goals. With that in mind, we could easily see a low-scoring match, with a single goal probably deciding the winner.

Top pick: Half-time draw   2.05 (21/20) @ 888sport

Alternative pick 1: Under 2.5 goals   1.62 (8/13) @ Paddy Power

Alternative pick 2: Draw   3.20 (11/5) @ Betfred