Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s Champions League clash between Monaco and Red Star Belgrade, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Monaco will look to extend their unbeaten start to the season when they welcome Red Star Belgrade to the Stade Louis II in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Adi Hutter‘s side relinquished top spot in Ligue 1 at the weekend, but claimed another positive result in what has been a superb run of form.
Match preview
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Reaching the 10-game mark of the season and still being unbeaten represents an excellent start for Monaco, who are keeping pace with Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the French top flight.
Despite drawing 0-0 with Lille on Friday, Jordan Teze‘s red card on the hour mark ultimately made it a good point for the club from the principality, even though PSG’s win the following day saw them go above Monaco on goal difference.
That was yet another threat to their unbeaten run that Monaco have come through, as they weathered a storm both literally and metaphorically away to Dinamo Zagreb in their last Champions League outing, coming from 2-0 down to draw, with Denis Zakaria netting a late penalty.
After also beating Barcelona on matchday one, it gives Monaco the opportunity to go three unbeaten to start their UCL campaign for the first time since 2016-17 – a season where they reached the semi-finals.
The current crop do not have the same star quality as that Monaco collective had, but they will still be confident against a Red Star side they beat twice just two seasons ago – winning 4-1 here and 1-0 in Belgrade.
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A Luka Ilic masterclass saw the Serbs maintain their healthy lead at the top of the Super League, beating Radnicki Nis 5-1 on Friday night.
In a very peculiar encounter, complacency certainly crept in for Red Star, who led 3-0 at the break, but then needed goalkeeper Marko Ilic to make 11 second-half saves to keep a rampaging Radnicki at bay, in a game that saw 32 shots on target.
With very little competition domestically though, Red Star severely struggle when making the step up in the Champions League, failing to win any of their previous 12 matches in the competition – losing 11.
Away from home, Red Star are even worse, as they have lost 11 in succession on the road, conceding 37 goals and scoring only six, meaning it is not unsurprising to note that they have not made it past the first stage in the competition since they won it in 1991.
Vladan Milojevic‘s side will need to make history if they are to end any of those barren runs though, as Red Star have never won a European fixture away in France on eight visits – conceding at least twice in all of those encounters.
Monaco Champions League form:
Monaco form (all competitions):
Red Star Belgrade Champions League form:
Red Star Belgrade form (all competitions):
Team News
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Monaco were weakened with news during the recent internationals that Mohammed Salisu picked up a muscle problem on Ghana duty, and Folarin Balogun was ruled out for two months after dislocating his shoulder in their last game before the break.
Teze’s red card will have not an impact on his availability here, so Hutter could start him knowing that he will be suspended next weekend.
The Monaco boss rested a few of his important players on Friday, possibly with one on this game, but also because some were away on international duty, such as Vanderson, Breel Embolo and Maghnes Akliouche.
Red Star also rotated their side on Friday evening, with Omri Glazer rested in goal, allowing stand-in Ilic to put on an excellent performance between the sticks, but the Israeli is likely to come back in.
Cherif Ndiaye, Silas and Vanja Drkusic were also rested ahead of this one, and even though Luka Ilic has only played 31 minutes of Champions League football so far, his hat trick against Radnicki could see him rewarded with a start.
On the injury front, the visitors will be without Mirko Ivanic and Ognjen Mimovic, but there are no new concerns from the win on Friday.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Kohn; Vanderson, Singo, Kehrer, Caio Henrique; Zakaria, Camara; Akliouche, Minamino, Ben Seghir; Embolo
Red Star Belgrade possible starting lineup:
Glazer; Seol, Spajic, Drkusic, Djiga; Krunic, Elsnik, L Ilic; Silas, Ndiaye, Olayinka
We say: Monaco 4-1 Red Star Belgrade
Red Star’s away form in the Champions League says it all, and a 12th straight defeat on the road is expected against a Monaco side that are yet to lose this season.
No team has gone on a longer run in the UCL without a clean sheet than Monaco (22 games), but they should have more than enough in attack to comfortably sweep their Serbian opponents aside here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.