Bastia – Monaco

Monaco will hope to keep up with PSG in the race for the Ligue 1 title but they could hardly ask for a tougher road game than the one against Bastia at Stade Armand Cesari.

Bastia (8th place) is having a great season and this is not too surprising considering they have a very good squad. The hosts actually further strengthen the roster in the winter and are boosting some big names like Landreau, Squillaci, Romaric or Cisse to go along a very balanced and organized team. Bastia is in very good form at the moment, winning 3 out of the last 4 games in Ligue 1 and their record at home is truly impressive, with 8 wins, 2 draws and just 1 loss – with only 7 goals allowed. The only loss was against a Lyon side in crazy form at the start of December.

Big-spending Monaco held PSG to a 1-1 draw at home and kept alive their title chances, but they are required to respond today after their rivals defeated Valenciennes 3-0 on Friday. The visitors are having troubles winning games lately, just 2 wins in the last 6 league matches. The injury of Falcao may be a serious reason for Monaco`s inability to get ahead in games. Another problem for Monaco coming into this game is that they could have been better on the road considering their standards: they won only 50% of their away matches in Ligue 1 this season.

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Team news and lineups

Team news: Landreau, Raspentino and Cioni are out for Bastia, while Monaco won`t be able to count on star striker Falcao and Abdennour. New signging Berbatov, who already played one game for Monaco, will probably start.

Bastia: Leca – Diakite, Squillaci, Modesto, Harek – Cahuzac, Romaric – Yatabare, Araujo, Palmieri – Cisse

AS Monaco: Subasic – Fabinho, Abidal, Carvalho, Kurzawa – Moutinho, Toulalan, Kondogbia – Rodriguez – Berbatov, Riviere

Monaco should have a really tough time here. Since I was a kid I know Bastia is one of the best home teams in Europe, extremely hard to beat on their own stadium, and this is clearly true this season also. The hosts are confident, in form and have every chance to frustrate Monaco at home. Bastia is also extremely strong tactically and defensively, which is a bad matchup for a Monaco side that has struggled a little bit to create chances in the absence of Falcao. I am fully confident that Monaco has way under 50% chances to win this, I wouldn`t give them even 40%, so the odds on Bastia double chance are just great. Take Bastia or the draw here – my tip is Bastia 1x double chance and I have to say I am pretty happy with this bet. Prediction: Bastia – AS Monaco 1-1.

Pick: 1x
Odds: 2.10 @ Bet365
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 8.8
Event date: 15 February