Monaco vs Le Havre prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2024-09-21 13:00.
[p]After Ligue 1 four rounds, Monaco are one of four sides yet to taste defeat (W3, D1) and they backed up their strong domestic start with a famous 2-1 victory over Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League on Thursday. With back-to-back home games against bottom-half finishers from 2023/24 to come this weekend and next, they’re realistically within reach of their first six-game unbeaten start to a new Ligue 1 season in more than a decade. [/p]
[p]Conceding a late penalty against Lens in their last home league outing was all that denied Monaco a sixth consecutive home win in Ligue 1. Four of the five preceding wins were accompanied by a clean sheet, just as their victories against Lyon (2-0), Auxerre (3-0) and Saint-Étienne (1-0) were in the early stages of this season, so they appear to be set up well to do the same against a side that narrowly avoided relegation last term.[/p]
[p]Le Havre ultimately retained their place in the top-flight by a mere three points, but there are early signs of growth in 2024/25. They’ve already picked up two wins as betting underdogs this Ligue 1 season – half as many as they did throughout the entirety of the previous edition (W4, D9, L13) – albeit with both wins coming against newly-promoted clubs. [/p]
[p]Head coach Didier Digard was disappointed with their 2-0 defeat at Toulouse last weekend and regretted a “collective failure” that saw them miss the chance to win successive top-flight away games for the first time this century. They’ll need to ensure that they avoid a repeat of last season’s failings on the road that saw them pick up just one Ligue 1 win on their travels (D9, L7), but Digard assured supporters they’ll bounce back strongly, and matching the 1-1 draw in last season’s corresponding fixture will be the benchmark. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Eighteen-year-old George Ilenikhena repeated history off the bench during the week, delivering a match-winner against Barcelona in the Champions League for a second consecutive season. His teams are now on an 11-game unbeaten run when he scores! For the visitors, the second half is also when fellow central midfielder Abdoulaye TourĂ© pops up on the scoresheet – five of his last six goals came during that period. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Le Havre scored before half-time in just three of their last 12 Ligue 1 matches.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Aaron Murphy[/i][/p]