RC Strasbourg Alsace - AS Monaco

- Kick-off: 20:00 GMT

Monaco would need to beat Strasbourg while either Paris Saint-Germain or Olympique Lyonnais slip up for that to be the case, but the principality side are certainly keeping up their end of the bargain, with Sunday's 2-0 victory over Stade Brestois 29 extending their undefeated run to 12 games - 10 of which have been victories.

Principality persistence

Monaco were made to work at the Stade Louis II at the weekend, with Brest goalkeeper Gautier Larsonneur pulling off a string of saves - including a penalty stop from Wissam Ben Yedder - before Stevan Jovetic and Kevin Volland finally secured the win inside the final 15 minutes.

The good news was followed by bad for Kovac, with his former Croatia manager Zlatko Kranjcar passing away on Monday. While the Monaco tactician had time for sentiment about his former mentor, there was little for his side's overall mission this season.

Watch: Highlights of Monaco's 2-0 win over Brest

"First of all, I'm very sad," Kovac said ahead of the Strasbourg game. "It's not easy to talk about him because we had some great moments together. He was a great person. He gave me ideas, of course. He also gave me the captain's armband for Croatia. For me, he's a very important person. We're all very sad about this situation. May he rest in peace."

When pushed on whether Monaco could return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2018/19 in light of the Brest result, the former midfielder was less forthcoming.

Kovac: 'Taboo'

"The podium? Yes, it's taboo!," he exclaimed. "When we have enough points to secure fourth place, then we'll talk about it."

But for winger Gelson Martins (knee) and youngster Willem Geubbels (concussion), Monaco have no injury concerns. Aleksandr Golovin has overcome a hamstring problem and is likely to start at the Stade de la Meinau. Kovac might be tempted to rest Ruben Aguilar for Djibril Sidibé, although the former has been flying on the right-hand side of Monaco's recently-implemented 3-4-3 formation.

Watch: Highlights of Monaco's 3-2 win in the reverse fixture

Monaco were avowedly 4-3-3 when they won September's reverse fixture 3-2, a Ben Yedder brace and Aguilar strike proving enough to stave off a late Strasbourg fightback. Le Racing couldn't quite manage the same at league leaders LOSC on Sunday, with Jose Fonte cancelling out Ludovic Ajorque's opener, a match with Kovac's opposite number Thierry Laurey didn't see the end of.

Laurey worry

The 57-year-old had stomach aches before half-time at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, and went to the dressing room without re-emerging for the second half, but he should return to the dugout on Wednesday.

"I'm doing very well and we're not going to do a press conference on this," he said ahead of the Monaco match. "I had a little problem for an hour but by the end of the game things were going very well.

Watch: Highlights of Strasbourg's 1-1 draw with Lille

"I trust the staff, but I saw them again in the evening and was very happy. It reassured me about what I think of the team at the moment. We raised our level. Now, we mustn't get ahead of ourselves. We had a big game, but we only took one point."

Missing midfielders

Eleven places and 25 points behind their visitors, Strasbourg nonetheless have a six-point cushion on the automatic relegation places. Already underdog as they seek to open that latter gap further, the hosts will be without both of their first-choice central midfielders.

Ibrahima Sissoko is suspended having accumulated five yellow cards, while there is an agreement in place which means Jean-Eudes Aholou cannot feature against his parent club. They join Mohamed Simakan, Lebo Mothiba (both knee) and Mats Selz (Achilles' tendon) on the sidelines.

Possible teams

Strasbourg: Kawashima; Guilbert, Mitrovic, Djiku, Caci; Bellegarde, Prcic, Liénard, Chahiri; Thomasson; Ajorque

Monaco: Lecomte; Disasi, Maripan, Badiashile; Aguilar, Fofana, Tchouaméni, Henrique; Volland, Golovin; Ben Yedder