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Montpellier will welcome Monaco to the Stade de la Mosson for a matchday 22 fixture in Ligue 1 on Sunday.
The visitors are in buoyant mood ahead of the game following their comfortable 4-0 victory over Clermont on home turf last weekend. Wissam Ben Yedder scored a second-half brace and provided an assist to inspire the rout.
Montpellier fell to a 1-0 shock defeat to Troyes on home turf. Xavier Chavelarin's second half goal helped the visitors secure maximum points.
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The defeat saw the Occitanie outfit lose their most recent momentum to drop down to ninth spot on 31 points. Monaco are two points better off in sixth place with 33 points in a congested race for the top four.
Montpellier vs Monaco Head-to-Head
Monaco have 18 wins from their last 30 matches against Montpellier, with 10 matches ending in a stalemate while the home side were victorious on two occasions.
Their most recent meeting came in October when Monaco secured a 3-1 victory on home turf in the reverse fixture.
Montpellier had a perfect run of five consecutive victories in December and kickstarted the new year with a 1-0 win over Strasbourg in the Coupe de France. However, successive league defeats have seen them fall off the pace in the race for European qualification.
Monaco are currently on a run of five games unbeaten in all competitions and have lost just one of their last 14 matches in all competitions.
Montpellier form guide (all competitions): L-L-W-W-W
Monaco form guide (all competitions): W-D-W-W-W
Montpellier vs Monaco Team News
Montpellier
Maxime Esteve, Thibault Tamas and Pedro Mendes have all been sidelined with injuries. Ambroise Oyongo is disputing the Africa Cup of Nations with his nation Cameroon while Teji Savanier is suspended due to the red card he received against Troyes.
Injuries: Maxime Esteve, Thibault Tamas, Pedro Mendes
Unavailable: Ambroise Oyongo
Suspension: Teji Savanier
Monaco
Benoit Badiashile (hamstring), Myron Boadu (hamstring), Djibril Sidibe (hamstring), Krepin Diatta (ACL) and Aleksandr Golovin (abdominal) have all been sidelined with fitness issues.
Cesc Fabregas is also unavailable due to an illness.
Injuries: Benoit Badiashile, Myron Boadu, Djibril Sidibe, Krepin Diatta, Aleksandr Golovin
Suspension: None
Unavailable: Cesc Fabregas
Montpellier vs Monaco Predicted XI
Montpellier predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Jonas Omlin (GK); Mihailo Ristic, Nicolas Cozza, Mamadou Sakho, Arnaud Souquet; Jordan Ferri, Joris Chotard; Florent Mollet, Junior Sambia, Stephy Mavididi; Sepe Elye Wahi
Monaco Predicted XI (3-5-2): Alexander Nubel (GK); Vanderson, Guillermo Maripan, Aguel Disasi; Gelson Martins, Eliot Matazo, Aurelien Tchouameni, Sofiane Diop, Ismail Jakobs; Kevin Volland, Wissam Ben Yedder
Montpellier vs Monaco Prediction
Just four points separates fourth from ninth in the table and a win for Montpellier would put them back within touching distance of the top four. In light of this, the home side are likely to go all out for the win.
Monaco themselves also have the motivation to go for all three points and their impressive record against Montpellier will give them an extra edge. Considering the quality of both sides, it is likely that they will each find the back of the net but we are backing the visitors to secure the win in a high-scoring game.
Prediction: Montpellier 2-3 Monaco
