Monaco vs Reims prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2024-01-12 16:00.
Monaco experienced a nerve-wracking moment in their opening game of 2024, as despite leading 2-0 within just 21 minutes, they had to endure a penalty shootout against Lens to secure their spot in the Coupe de France round of 16. While coach Adi Hütter labeled the match a "great game", he will undoubtedly be wishing for a calmer scenario to start the second half of the Ligue 1 season.
As the Monégasques return to the Stade Louis II, their primary goal will be to prevent their first back-to-back home league losses in nearly a year, following a 1-0 defeat to Lyon in their last outing here, and to strengthen their position in the top three. That could prove to be a challenging task against Reims, a side they lament a seven-game winless H2H home streak against in Ligue 1 (D5, L2), losing the previous two.
Visiting Reims will be determined to continue proving a tough opponent for the principality team, and following their 3-1 loss in the reverse H2H in October, they should be motivated to seek redemption, particularly since coach Will Still expressed his dissatisfaction with his players' "lack of efficiency" in that game, despite a higher expected goals (xG) ratio of 2.03 compared to 1.1.
The Red and Whites had a promising start to the year with a convincing 3-0 win against fourth-tier team Dinan-Lehon in the French Cup, and they should be motivated for this upcoming match, as victory could potentially propel them back into the Ligue 1 top six. It won't be an easy task however, given that Reims are on a three-game losing streak in away league matches, all against sides that started the round in the top ten.
Players to watch: Folarin Balogun will be one to watch, considering he scored six minutes after half-time in the previous two H2Hs, once for his current club Monaco and once for Reims! He could be upstaged early on by Junya Ito, who has scored three of his previous four goals for Reims inside the opening ten minutes.
Hot stat: Reims have not registered a single draw in the six league road trips this season that saw them start as outsiders (W2, L4).