After ending a five-match winless run in Ligue 1 to begin 2023, Lorient will welcome Monaco to Stade du Moustoir on Wednesday with a chance to overtake them for a Europa Conference League qualifying spot next season.
Over the weekend, Les Merlus had no trouble advancing beyond the round of 64 at the Couple de France, smashing La Chataigneraie 6-0, while Monaco were upset on penalties by Rodez in a match which ended 2-2 after normal time.
Match preview
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Since 2023 began, we have seen a glimpse of the Lorient side which surprised everyone at the start of this domestic campaign, when they claimed points in 11 of their opening 12 fixtures.
On New Year's Day, they surrendered the opening goal to Angers after only nine minutes but scored twice in the final 11 minutes of play, winning their third Ligue 1 encounter this season when conceding first.
Their 6-0 triumph over the weekend was the most significant margin of victory in a single match for them since thumping Bourg-en-Bresse by that same score in a Ligue 2 encounter during the 2017-18 season.
Wednesday will be the first time since early November that they face a team in the top five of the French top flight, with Regis Le Bris's men losing two of their three matches against those sides so far in 2022-23, defeating Rennes 1-0 to begin the campaign.
They began the domestic campaign unbeaten in their first five home games, conceding just a single goal in all but one of those encounters, though lately, their supporters have not had much to cheer about as Les Merlus have dropped three straight league games at Stade du Moustoir.
Home field has not been a great advantage for Lorient when facing Monaco in the top-flight, with Les Merlus failing to score in three of their previous four matches against them, though they came away with a 1-0 victory versus Les Monegasques in this exact fixture last season.
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Unacceptable was the word Monaco boss Philippe Clement used following his team's shock defeat at the Coupe de France last weekend to a second-tier side, their earliest exit from that competition since 2012 and the first time all season they had lost when leading by two goals.
Their defending was not top-class by any stretch on Saturday, and that is something Les Monegasques have had a hard time with in Ligue 1 this season, tied for the third-most goals conceded among the sides currently in the top half of the table.
While they gave up two in their previous road fixture in this competition versus Auxerre, Monaco have only lost one league match away from home this season, while four of their six clean sheets have occurred outside of the Principality.
Clearly, their defence needs improving, but they have not had any trouble finding the back of the net, scoring in 27 consecutive Ligue 1 affairs (58 goals total), the longest ongoing streak in the top five European leagues.
The month of January has been very kind to them of late as Les Monegasques have won seven of their previous nine encounters in the French top flight, with the last one coming on New Year's Day when they defeated Brest 1-0.
Monaco have not suffered more than three defeats from January until May in each of their previous two domestic campaigns.
In addition to that, they have captured nine of their 12 Ligue 1 games played since the beginning of September, a feat that only the league leaders Paris Saint-Germain have bested, winning 10 times over that same stretch.
Team News
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Yoann Cathline notched a brace for Lorient in their big victory at the Coupe de France on Sunday, which is one more goal than he has managed in Ligue 1 this season, with the other strikes coming from Ibrahima Kone, Adil Aouchiche, Stephane Diarra and Adrian Grbic, while goalkeeper Teddy Bartouche only had to make two stops for the clean sheet.
Terem Moffi is third in Ligue 1 for goals with 10 and has found the back of the net four times in previous encounters against Les Monegasques.
His penalty goal at home to Monaco last season helped his side win 1-0, while Enzo Le Fee notched the winner in their previous league triumph over Angers at the beginning of January and Vito Mannone has yet to earn a shutout over this campaign.
Yvon Mvogo will be sidelined until early March because of a tendon injury, Theo Le Bris has a sprained ankle and Julien Laporte might not be available until the end of January due to a hamstring strain.
After scoring the only goal in their victory over Brest, Aleksandr Golovin missed his penalty at the Coupe de France, sending Monaco to defeat, despite his side having a 2-0 lead after 37 minutes thanks to goals from Maghnes Akliouche and Wissam Ben Yedder.
The other penalty miss by Monaco this weekend came from Soungoutou Magassa, while Alexander Nubel leads Ligue 1 in saves with 68. Their joint-top goalscorer in league play, Breel Embolo, has failed to strike in his last three domestic affairs, while Eliesse Ben Seghir became the youngest player in the history of this competition to notch a brace in his opening match in the French top flight, netting twice at the age of 17 years and 10 months in a 3-2 road victory over Auxerre
Last week they lost Benoit Badiashile, who signed a deal with Chelsea for seven and a half years, Willem Geubbels could be available soon despite a muscle injury, while Kevin Volland might not be back until the middle of the month after hurting his ribs.
Lorient possible starting lineup:
Mannone; Le Goff, Talbi, Matsima, Kalulu; Boisgard, Abergel; Cathline, Le Fee, Ouattara; Moffi
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Vanderson, Disasi, Maripan, Henrique; Martins, Fofana, Camara, Golovin; Embolo, Ben Yedder
We say: Lorient 0-2 Monaco
Lorient are in better form, but they have not faced a formidable opponent this year, with their two wins coming against an Angers side who are bottom of the Ligue 1 table and a sixth-tier team at the Coupe de France.
Their backline will have to contend with a Monaco side filled with plenty of attacking options and likely to be in a foul mood and eager to close the gap between themselves and a Champions League place.
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