Monaco v Tottenham: Trouble looms for Spurs at fortress Louis II
Published:
They may remain unbeaten in the Premier League, but Tottenham have struggled in Europe this season and their Champions League hopes could be over tonight unless they conjure a memorable performance away at Monaco.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men sit third, and know that a failure to win on the French Riviera coupled with a Leverkusen victory at CSKA Moscow will end their Champions League campaign.
Tottenham’s smash-and-grab victory over West Ham on Saturday glossed over an abject performance.
It doesn’t hide the fact they’ve won just one of their last eight games, while Monaco have won four and drawn two of their last six.
Additionally, the fixture list hasn’t been kind to the Lilywhites.
A Saturday evening KO coupled with a Tuesday night game is a stark contrast to rivals Arsenal, who played Saturday lunch-time and won’t play again until tomorrow night – handing the Gunners an extra 30 hours to rest.
Plus, Pochettino will undoubtedly have one eye on this weekend’s Premier League clash – a first visit to Stamford Bridge since that infamous clash with Chelsea in April.
And if all that wasn’t enough to concern the Spurs faithful, Monaco sit second in Ligue 1, and have created a fortress at the Stade Louis II.
Leonardo Jardim has seen his side lose just once at home in 2016, and only twice in almost 15 months.
For all the concerns ahead of this fixture, Spurs have two positives to build upon. They know that this is essentially a must-win game, and they should also have learned plenty from the 2-1 defeat at Wembley.
Tottenham have scored in all three meetings with Monaco too, and both teams to score is 8/11. If they do pull off a famous away win, expect it to be a narrow one.
Five of Spurs’ seven wins in all competitions this season have come by one-goal margins, and 2-1 is priced up at 9s.
Pochettino will be hoping his side can keep Radamel Falcao quiet though, with the Colombian back to his best following a disastrous stint in England.
With four goals in his last four Ligue 1 games, the 30-year-old leads the first goalscorer betting at 4/1, ahead of Harry Kane at 5s.
If the north Londoners are to keep their Champions League hopes alive, they’ll need to be at their very best.
A West Ham implosion saw Spurs off the hook at the weekend, but don’t expect such generosity in the principality tonight.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
