Monaco vs Lens

Stade Louis II forms the backdrop for an exciting Ligue 1 match-up between Monaco and Lens.

An impressive recruitment campaign during the summer transfer window has paid dividends thus far, as Adi Hutter’s managerial tenure at Monaco has been off to a promising start. An action-packed 3-3 draw at Nantes last time out abruptly ended Monaco’s two-game winning run at the beginning of the 2023/24 Ligue 1 season. However, bouncing back from a 3-1 deficit to rescue a point proved the team’s new-found fighting spirit, which could be paramount as they bid to improve on last season’s 6th-place finish. It’s been five years since ‘Les Monégasques’ last started a new top-flight campaign unbeaten in their opening four matches. Achieving that feat would be a fitting way to head into September’s international break, especially after ending the 2022/23 season on a woeful four-game winless league run (D1, L3).

On the other hand, visiting Lens went above and beyond to secure a runner-up finish last season, finishing just one point adrift of perennial champions PSG. However, after losing Seko Fofana and Lois Openda in the summer, the visitors’ bid to replicate that success has been off to a wayward start. After squandering the leads in a 3-2 defeat at Brest and a 1-1 home draw against Rennes in the opening two league matches, ‘Les Sang et Or’ slipped to a 3-1 loss at PSG last weekend. Franck Heise’s men now stare down the barrel of a four-game winless start to a new top-flight campaign for only the second time in their last 21 Ligue 1 seasons! Considering they’ve lost more games to Monaco (45) than against any other side in Ligue 1 history, there’s not much reason for optimism.