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Monaco look to maintain recent good form vs. Marseille and kick-start survival bid

By Matt Addison

Monaco's Italian forward Pietro Pellegri (R) celebrates a goal of Monaco's Brazilian midfielder Rony Lopez (L) during the French L1 football match Monaco vs Dijon on February 16, 2018 at the Louis II Stadium in Monaco. / AFP PHOTO / VALERY HACHE (Photo credit should read VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images)
Monaco's Italian forward Pietro Pellegri (R) celebrates a goal of Monaco's Brazilian midfielder Rony Lopez (L) during the French L1 football match Monaco vs Dijon on February 16, 2018 at the Louis II Stadium in Monaco. / AFP PHOTO / VALERY HACHE (Photo credit should read VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Monaco have a good recent record against Marseille, but have been in terrible form so far this season.

Thierry Henry’s Monaco will visit Marseille on Sunday, still in a precarious position near the foot of the Ligue 1 table.

They remain two points off the bottom of the table — five points off safety — and have only won three times in Ligue 1 all season and lost to bottom side Guincamp last time out just before Christmas.

Hosts Marseille currently lie in sixth place, five points off Lyon in third place but with a game in hand on all the sides above them apart from PSG.

Marseille will have had a full week to prepare for the game, but they will have been disappointed having lost to fourth-tier side Andrezieux in the Coupe de France.

Monaco, meanwhile, played Rennes in the French League Cup quarter-final on Wednesday night. That game finished 1-1, with Monaco prevailing on penalties, 8-7.

Cesc Fabregas could be a Monaco player by Sunday, while Naldo could make his league debut having been brought in from Schalke. He made his Monaco debut in the cup against Rennes, and missed in the shoot-out, although it ultimately didn’t matter.

Key battles

Adil Rami and Rolando, Marseille’s central defenders, must face Radamel Falcao, Monaco’s talisman and main source of goals. He has seven in 16 league appearances this season.

Rony Lopes, who is back in the team after injury and could well prove to be crucial in the second half of the season, will look to feed Falcao from the centre of the pitch alongside Youri Tielemens.

Morgan Sanson and Luiz Gustavo in the centre of the Marseille midfield will have a tough job keeping tabs on the tricky Lopes, but doing so could be crucial to their side winning the game.

Kostas Mitroglou, Dimitri Payet and Florian Thauvin at the other end of the pitch in the Marseille attack will be an equally difficult test for the likes Kamil Glik, Benjamin Henrichs, Benoit Badiashile (a 17-year-old) and Guilian Biancone (an 18-year-old).

Previous meetings

One thing has been guaranteed in recent previous matches between these two teams: goals.

Last season, Monaco won 6-1 at home, but drew 2-2 in Marseille. Earlier in this campaign, though, Marseille went to Stade Louis II and won 3-2.

The season before, the sides met three times and Monaco won on all three occasions. Firstly, they won 4-0 at home, before a 4-1 win at Marseille. The other game — in the Coupe de France — finished 2-2 in normal time, before Monaco went on to win 3-4 after extra-time.

Monaco will be hoping to keep up their good recent form against Marseille as they look to escape danger in the second half of the season. Judging by their recent form in Ligue 1, though, that is far from a guarantee.

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