Having finally recorded the first win of the new Ligue 1 campaign, Monaco will want to continue in the same manner and ensure they remain close to the top of the standings. Their opponents Lille have just crashed out of the Champions League and they clearly need to show an improvement in order to get anything from this match.

Falcao rediscovers scoring touch

In spite of the heavy recruitment, Monaco did really well to achieve a second-place finish in Ligue 1 last term, thus securing automatic Champions League berth. The Principality club have since stayed without playmaker James Rodriguez, Mounir Obbadi, Eric Abidal and Emmanuele Riviere, but chances are only the Colombian will be missed this season. In came Traore, Bakayoko, Bernardo Silva and Stekelenburg, among others, while Monaco are expected to have signed a replacement for Rodriguez by the time the summer transfer window closes. More importantly, star striker Radamel Falcao has returned into action and immediately rediscovered his scoring touch, bagging 2 goals in first 3 appearances of the season. And with Dimitar Berbatov also in the ranks, the Principality club should have no problems scoring goals this term. The season had a very poor start for Monaco as they lost the first two league games, despite completely outplaying Lorient and taking the lead against Bordeaux, but things soon fell into place as they defeated Nantes on the road. As a result, Leoardo Jardim’s side can be trusted to continue the good run of performances and they will certainly have an extra edge over the Lille side that played in midweek.

Lacina Traore and Borja Lopez continue to miss out, but there are no fresh injury worries for coach Leonardo Jardim at the moment.

No Champions League football for Lille

Lille secured Champions League qualification through league finish last term, pipping Saint Etienne to the final berth, but a lot has happened between the end of last season and now. The lack of ambition has been evident at the club as they sold Divock Origi to Liverpool, even if the Belgian was immediately loaned back to les Dogues, while the club failed to keep hold of star striker Salomon Kalou, who is widely tipped to leave in the coming days. As a result, Lille crashed out of the Champions League, suffering a 3-0 aggregate defeat to much-changed Porto side, while failing to impress in the league as well. Lille did take seven points from the opening three fixtures, but they largely struggled in each of those games, and all their weaknesses are likely to be on display when facing star-studded Monaco side. While being low on confidence after the Porto defeat in midweek, les Dogues are likely to experience plenty of problems at the back, considering that starting centre-backs Marko Basa and Simon Kjaer are both struggling through injury.

The two defenders are both rated doubtful for the Monaco game, while playmaker Marvin Martin is definitely out through injury and Salomon Kalou is not in contention.

Verdict

Monaco are slowly raising their form and having restored some of the lost confidence by beating Nantes away, they have got to be considered favourites against out-of-form Lille. Les Dogues are very low on spirits at the moment, not in the best shape and could miss up to three key players at Stade Louis II.

Top pick: Home win   2.05 (21/20) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 1: Lille not to score   2.30 (13/10) @ Ladbrokes

Alternative pick 2: Monaco to win to nil   2.88 (17/9) @ Betfred