In-form AS Monaco are chasing a fifth straight win in 2021 as they go to FC Nantes on Sunday, with the principality side perhaps still capable of a title challenge. Their opponents, in contrast, are looking to end the worst winless run in their top-flight history.
FC Nantes - AS Monaco Sunday at 21:00 CET (2000 GMT)
Around the season’s halfway point all the talk has been of a three-way race for the Ligue 1 Uber Eats title, with leaders Paris Saint-Germain, LOSC and Olympique Lyonnais all separated by just two points ahead of this weekend. However, Monaco have edged to within touching distance of the podium thanks to their magnificent start to 2021.
The principality club have kicked off the new year with four wins out of four, scoring a total of 14 goals in sinking FC Lorient, Angers SCO, Montpellier Hérault SC and then Olympique de Marseille. They came from behind to beat OM 3-1 at the Stade Louis II last time out with Guillermo Maripan, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Stevan Jovetic all on target. That left Monaco in fourth and just four points away from the top three.
A podium finish and a return to the UEFA Champions League has to be the target for Niko Kovac’s team this season, but could they aim even higher than that?
Highlights: Monaco come from behind to beat Marseille
They have won five of their last six games, only slipping up in that time in the 2-2 draw with AS Saint-Etienne just before Christmas in which they played more than half the match with 10 men. In terms of winning four on the bounce, they have been here before: They won all four outings in November but followed it up with a run of three straight losses.
'Keep our feet on the ground'
Although those defeats included reverses away in Lille and in Marseille, that run hinted at an immaturity in a side containing plenty of inexperienced players, and Kovac’s team have had defensive issues. They have let in 30 goals, far more than any other side in the top eight coming into the weekend. While their attack has been prolific, and Kevin Volland has netted 10 times in the last 13 games, five of the six goals scored by Wissam Ben Yedder since the start of October have been penalties. He has completed 90 minutes just once since a spell out with Covid-19 in November. Meanwhile winger Gelson Martins this week underwent minor surgery on his left knee.
It does all suggest that Monaco will not be able to keep this winning run going long enough to really close the gap on the leaders, but there is certainly plenty more to come from their Siberian playmaker Aleksandr Golovin, who has made an impact off the bench in the last four games. They are also the league’s best side from set-pieces, with 19 goals coming from dead balls this season.
Highlights: Nantes lose at Metz, winless run goes on
“We must keep our feet on the ground,” said Kovac after the Marseille victory. “This team is still developing, but the players’ understanding of what is expected from them is getting better all the time. Our first objective is to maintain the gap down to the teams behind us. We will see what is possible at the end of the season but we are not really looking at the top of the table.”
Nantes: 'In a relegation fight'
In stark contrast Nantes have gone 12 matches without a win now after losing 2-0 at FC Metz last time out, a result that left Les Canaris dangerously close to the relegation zone. Seven of those games have ended in draws, but it is the longest winless sequence in the proud club’s top-flight history.
Raymond Domenech has failed to win any of his first four matches in charge, with the Metz defeat following three successive draws. The performance in Lorraine drew a withering assessment from defender Charles Traoré.
“We played like we had our hands in our pockets,” he fumed. “We need to stop thinking we’re better than we are. We are in a relegation fight. We need to waken up, show more desire and find a killer instinct. Talking is fine but actions are what we really need.”
One man who will not be sticking around for a dogfight is playmaker Mehdi Abeid, who it is understood has agreed a deal to join Al Nasr of Dubai in the UAE Pro League for a fee of €1.5 million.
Probable teams
FC Nantes: Lafont; Fabio, Girotto, Pallois, Corchia; Coco, Touré, Louza, Simon; Kolo Muani, Coulibaly
Monaco: Lecomte; Sidibé, Maripan, Badiashile, Caio Henrique; Diop, Fofana, Tchouaméni, Golovin; Volland, Ben Yedder