Monaco vs Leverkusen – Analysis, Prediction, Team News

As part of our Europa League predictions, we examine Leverkusen’s visit to Monaco. Leverkusen blew a 2-1 lead in the opening leg and find themselves up against it. Can they find a way through? Read on with our Monaco vs Leverkusen prediction.

Monaco vs Leverkusen Match Preview

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.

Domestically, Monaco continued their recent improvement with a 2-1 victory away to Brest, courtesy of strikes from Golovin and Boadu. That hard-fought victory sees them both retaining third place in Ligue 1 and keeping in touch with second place Marseille (two points ahead) and PSG (seven points ahead). Over the course of the last 10 Ligue 1 games, only Marseille have a better record than Monaco, with 25 points to 23, and Clement’s men have been four points better off than heavy title favourites PSG during the same period.

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.

In the Bundesliga, Leverkusen once again displayed their penchant for inconsistency even within the same game as they were once again defeated by a 3-2 scoreline, this time against Mainz. Having clawed their way back into the game twice to enter the final half-hour at 2-2, a late penalty condemned Alonso’s side to their third Bundesliga defeat in five games. Their recent improvement now looks to be fading fast, and it’s clear that last season’s third-place finish is something of a distant memory.

Last time out, Leverkusen fell behind to a mistake from goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky but were rejuvenated by the halftime break to take a 2-1 lead through two very well-taken goals from Diaby and Wirtz. Unfortunately for Leverkusen, their soft underbelly was once again exposed as they failed to close down both Diatta and Diassi as they both scored from outside the area with plenty of time and space at their disposal.

Team News

Injuries and Suspensions

Monaco:

Might Not Play: Maripan, Vanderson

Will Not Play: Aguilar, Martins, Volland

Leverkusen:

Might Not Play: Diaby

Will Not Play: Aranguiz, Lunev

Monaco vs Leverkusen Lineups (Predicted)

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

Leverkusen (4-3-3): Hradecky; Hincapie, Tapsoba, Tah, Frimpong; Andrich, Palacios, Amiri; Diaby, Wirtz, Schick

Our Prediction

While Leverkusen do play some admittedly nice football, it’s difficult to back them to win any football match. Last time around, we predicted a Monaco win despite Leverkusen being the clear bookmaker’s favourites for that match. It’s simply too much to ask from Leverkusen to be able to keep or clean sheet or even to stop the opposition from scoring more than once in a game of this magnitude.

Monaco will be aware that the job is only half done, as Leverkusen demonstrated in a 20-25 minute period in the second half that they are a capable attacking side in spurts. In the first leg, Monaco perhaps suffered from a tactical change gone wrong, as they were clearly second best until the double introduction of Jakobs and Matazo gave them more energy and fresh impetus in the middle of the park.

Leverkusen can look forward to the restoration of star striker Patrik Schick to the starting lineup. The Czech Republic international was one of the Bundesliga’s standout performers last year and a prolific goalscorer to boot, scoring 24 times in 27 league matches. Schick grabbed a goal within three minutes of coming on for the Germans, and we expect that Leverkusen will pose more of a consistent threat in attack. However, we cannot ignore Leverkusen’s defensive issues and the fact that this Monaco side is capable of scoring goals for fun at home. In an unusual move, we predict this second leg to yield the same scoreline as that of the first.

Monaco 3-2 Leverkusen

Monaco vs Leverkusen Betting Tip – Monaco Odds: