AS Monaco – Villarreal

AS Monaco will look to protect a 2-1 advantage against Villarreal in this Champions League playoff clash, after the French side managed to get a win at El Madrigal in the first leg.

Monaco is showing a different face in the start of this season. A very defensive outfit in the last years, Monaco started banging in the goals in the first matches of this year, while the defense also showed plenty of weaknesses. All of Monaco`s first 4 games of the season were high scoring, until they won 1-0 at Nantes a few days ago. The hosts are in great form at the moment, winning 4-3 aggregate against Fenerbahce in the previous UCL round and claiming an excellent result against Villarreal in Spain.

Villarreal should have really done better in the first leg. It was a pretty evenly matched clash overall, but the hosts had more of the ball and more chances as well. They should have won the game or at least hold on to a draw, but the defensive errors cost them. It will be difficult to come back after allowing 2 goals at home, but Villarreal is definitely a team that has the power to pull it off. The visitors are on the back of a 1-1 draw against Granada on the road, their second official match of the season.

Bet on Monaco – Villarreal and claim your 100% (100 €) exclusive bonus at Ohmbet!

Team news: Villarreal will get back a few players like Costa or Ruiz for this game. Monaco rested most of its starters over the weekend and should field a very similar team to the one that claimed the win in Spain.

The first leg last week was pretty entertaining, with both teams having chances to score and I don’t see why the second leg wiould be any different. In fact, chances are it will be a more open clash than last week.

Villarreal needs to score at least twice here so they need to get some offense going pretty quickly. If the first leg would have finished with a result like 0-1, then I could see Villarreal not taking risks here – trying to play it safe and wait for their opportunity. But losing 1-2, they really don`t have time to wait it out. Sooner rather than later they will leave more open spaces than they would usually do. I can see the visitors playing a moderately attacking game, while AS Monaco will definitely look to exploit that and score once or twice – something they are very capable of doing.

We know Villarreal can bang in the goals and Monaco is looking very sharp up front as well in the start of this season, so both teams to score seems like a logical bet to take, especially having in mind the result in Spain. Prediction: AS Monaco – Villarreal 2-2.

Pick: Both to score
Odds: 1.91 @ Unibet
Stake: 6
Possible profit: 5.46
Event date: 23 August