Monaco welcomes Nice to the Stade Louis II on Friday night looking to continue the recent recovery that could well take them clear of the relegation zone. In the respective dugouts are two former Arsenal legends, with Thierry Henry taking charge of Monaco just a few short weeks ago, while former teammate Patrick Vieira is his counterpart at Nice, where he has been doing a fine job this season.
- Monaco has won two of its last three Ligue 1 outings.
- Nice is unbeaten in its last six league encounters.
- Monaco has won nine, and Nice six, of the last 22 meetings between these two teams.
Monaco vs Nice Game Center
Monaco looking to continue upward trajectory
Thierry Henry endured a sticky start to his spell as Monaco boss, but there have been small, encouraging signs over recent weeks that he could well be steering their ship toward calmer waters. The club has won two of its last three league outings, which has seen them climb up to 17th in the table, and a win on Friday night could take them as high as 15th – temporarily, at least.
Nice, by way of comparison, has been defying expectations all season and Patrick Vieira is proving himself to be an astute tactician and more than competent coach. Nice is unbeaten in its last six league contests and sits seventh in the standings, while a win on Friday could move the team level on points with Lyon.
While the betting is close, Monaco comes in as the favorite to take all three points. You can back the home side to pick up another much-needed win at +140 while Nice, despite its excellent recent form, is out at +210 to do the same. A draw comes in slightly higher still at +220.
Monaco to edge close encounter
As noted above, Henry would appear to be finding the right formula to get this Monaco side firing on all cylinders, and as such we are expecting them to continue their recent league form at the expense of Nice. It is of course never easy trying to predict the exact scoreline of any football match, but a narrow 2-1 win for Monaco comes in at +850 and could well be worth backing in the circumstances.
That in turn would allow you to back OVER 2.5 goals in the game, which is priced at +100, as well as both teams to score, which comes in very short at -134. Therefore, if you are thinking of trying to boost any potential winnings from this clash, it could well be worth considering combo betting, which offers multiple outcomes at higher odds.
For example, a combo bet of a Monaco win coupled with both teams to score is at the much higher price of +375, while a home victory and OVER 2.5 goals in the game is at +300. OVER 2.5 goals and both teams to score comes in at +125.
Monaco to do it the hard way
Not surprisingly for a team near the bottom of the table, Monaco has been shipping goals for fun and is conceding at a rate of 1.5 goals per game. With that in mind, they may well fall behind in this game and have to win after going a goal down, an outcome you can back at +900.
Nice, however, has struggled for goals so far this season and is scoring at a rate of less than a goal a game. They have failed to find the back of the net in each of their last two league encounters and you can back Monaco to win to nil (without Nice scoring a goal) at a price of +333.
In terms of goalscorers, Monaco will surely be looking to veteran Colombian Radamel Falcao to fire them to victory. The striker is at +100 to net at any time during the 90 minutes, while you can back him at +333 to score either the first or the last goal of the game – just as he did in Monaco’s victory over Amiens in midweek.
