Leverkusen vs Monaco – Analysis, Prediction, Team News

As part of our Europa League predictions, we examine Monaco’s visit to Leverkusen. Monaco are in red hot form in Ligue 1. Can they get a result here against an inconsistent Leverkusen side? Read on with our Leverkusen vs Monaco prediction.

Leverkusen vs Monaco Match Preview

Leverkusen’s Champions League campaign this season is perhaps best described as one best forgotten, and the north German side can consider themselves to be a little fortunate to be in this Europa League playoff after amassing just five points from Group B. That they’re here owes a lot to an impressive 2-0 victory over Atletico who also, to the surprise of many, finished on five points. Back-to-back defeats against Porto (3-0, 2-0) and failing to beat Champions League surprise package Club Brugge are emblematic of the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Bayer Leverkusen. Atletico were considered the strongest team in the group coming into the tournament, and Leverkusen took four points from them.

Domestically, the Bundesliga side lie in 8th position, 10 points from the Champions League spots and just one point ahead of 12th place Mainz. Until a recent 2-0 home reversal against Dortmund, Alonso’s men had improved their home form, scoring nine without reply against Union Berlin, Stuttgart and Bochum, which included a fantastic 5-0 over Union Berlin. A disappointing 1-0 loss to Augsburg followed their defeat against Dortmund which raised some questions over their resiliency, but a 3-1 victory away from home against struggling Hoffenheim has put them back on the right track.

Monaco endured a disappointing Europa League Group H campaign as they toiled to an unlikely second-place finish behind Ferencvaros. Having been expected to top the group, Monaco gained just 10 points from their six matches, failing to beat Ferencvaros, losing 4-0 in Trabzon and required a victory on their final group match against Crvena Zvezda in order to reach this Europa League playoff. However, they’ll feel that the worst is behind them as they have improved markedly since the restart.

Monaco’s domestic improvement has been nothing short of transformative. Besides a cup exit to Rodez, Philippe Clement’s men find themselves unbeaten since the restart and in the midst of mounting a title challenge that would have been considered rather unlikely in November. In addition to a 3-1 victory over PSG last time out, Monaco are top of the form table for the last five games, and second for the last 10 to Marseille. Their away form has been excellent, winning seven of their 11 away matches with just one defeat.

Team News

Injuries and Suspensions

Leverkusen:

Might Not Play: Bellarabi, Schick

Will Not Play: Aranguiz

Monaco:

Might Not Play: Sarr

Will Not Play: Vanderson

Leverkusen vs Monaco Lineups (Predicted)

Leverkusen (3-4-3): Hradecky; Hincapie, Tapsoba, Tah; Bakker, Andrich, Palacios, Frimpong; Adli, Diaby, Hlozek

Monaco (4-2-2-2): Nubel; Henrique, Maripan, Disasi, Aguilar; Camara, Fofana; Golovin, Diatta; Ben Yedder, Ben Seghir

Our Prediction

It’s fair to say that both sides have had well-documented problems in European football this season, and if we were to base our prediction on that alone then we would be writing Monaco off. However, though both sides have shown improvement since the World Cup break, Monaco are in excellent form and appear to be the more accomplished of the two sides. A disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Dortmund in which Leverkusen huffed and puffed in vain for much of the second half to reduce the deficit was followed up by a scoreless outing away to Augsburg for more of the same and an expected xG of less than 0.5.

If this feels unduly harsh on Leverkusen, it certainly isn’t meant to be. Leverkusen have indeed improved since their early season flirtations with the relegation zone and largely disappointing Champions League performances, but we still sense an inconsistency with this side and in our opinion, Monaco are more consistent and have improved dramatically of late. Therefore, we back Monaco to take home a hard-earned victory.

Leverkusen 0-2 Monaco

Leverkusen vs Monaco Betting Tip – Monaco Odds: