Our prediction for this Ligue 1 match:
Monaco will look to recover from a heart-breaking 5-2 loss to PSG when they welcome Montpellier to their Stade Louis II on Sunday afternoon. Les Rouges et Blancs are eager to stay in the title race and we are positive that they will stick to their attacking style of play against La Paillade. Experienced attacker Wissam Ben Yedder is pushing for a start, while both Myron Boadu and Eliesse Ben Seghir are out of contention with injuries.
Montpellier, on the other hand, experienced all sorts of problems at the back in a 3-1 loss to Brest, which is probably the main reason why we are going to put our money on the home side. Joris Chotard misses out through suspension, while the likes of Leo Leroy, Issiaga Sylla, and Christopher Jullien remain in the treatment room. In their last meeting at the venue Montpellier shocked Monaco 4-0, meaning that Adi Hutter’s charges are hungry for revenge.
Highlighted Player (Wissam Ben Yedder):
Wissam Ben Yedder was born in Sarcelles, France on 12 August, 1990, but he has yet to make his France debut at senior level. The 170-cm-tall striker, though, played three games for France U21 team and he made two appearances for France Futsal team as well.
Ben Yedder began his club career at UJA Alfortville and he moved to Toulouse in 2010. After scoring 63 goals in 156 league appearances for les Pitchouns, the pacey attacker joined La Liga side Sevilla on 30 July, 2016. Wissam Ben Yedder made his Sevilla debut on 14 August, 2016 in a 2-0 loss to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup. The former Toulouse forward scored his first goal in the Spanish top flight in Sevilla’s 6-4 win over Espanyol in the opening match of the 2016/2017 season.
Ben Yedder started his youth career at Garges-les-Gonesse and he played for the Saint-Denis at the start of his football career as well. You should bear in mind that Ben Yedder is Toulouse’s best scorer of the 21st century.
Highlighted Team (Montpellier):
Over the years Montpellier have established themselves as a mid-table side in French Ligue 1. Montpellier are considered one of the youngest clubs in France as they were founded in 1974, but it has to be noted that a number of high-profile footballers played for the club in the past. French football legend Laurent Blanc played for Montpellier from 1981-1993 and he scored 76 goals in 24 appearances in the league for the club. Eric Cantona, Roger Milla, Carlos Valderama and Olivier Giroud played in Montpellier’s colors as well, but Pascal Baills is the player with most appearances for the club (429).
La Paillade did remarkably well to win the Ligue 1 trophy in 2012 and that is considered the club’s biggest success. Montpellier won Coupe de France on two occasions (1929, 1990), with the team beating FC Sete and FC Paris respectively in the title games. The team welcome their rivals at Stade de la Mosson and the capacity of the stadium is 32.900. In 1999 Montpellier won the UEFA Intertoto Cup.