It sounds incredible, but the last time Laurent Blanc’s side didn’t win a match at home was the last February, when they were in a bit worse form and managed to only get a draw against Galatasaray. Since then, Bordeaux has recorded 14 consecutive home wins in all competitions. In order to find the time they lost one home match the last time, we’d have to go two years back in time. At the beginning of October of 2007, Lyon won by 3:1 at the Chaban-Delmas stadium. Saturday’s clash against Monaco will be a great test for Laurent Blanc’s side since they’re currently second in the standings, while Bordeaux is playing maybe the most deciding match in the CL next week against Bayern in Munich. Blanc is usually showing lots of respect to his league rivals, and always fields the best lineup, but surely makes some team changes after the big match. That is exactly why Bordeaux lost their first game after 6 months, when they got defeated to St. Etienne as their coach decided to rest some players after the success vs. Maccabi Haifa.
Getting back to the top
A place in the mid-table has become the harsh reality of the team from the Mediterranean Sea in the last couple of seasons. Monaco has become a regular in the European cups at the start of this decade, but in the 1999/2000 season they even took the French league title. After that they stagnated a bit, and their board members had to be changed. Guy Lacombe took over the club, and he is the coach with character well-known for good results, as he made Rennes a candidate for the European spots, while he currently seems to be able to influence Monaco as well. He managed to create a good team thourgh which some young players can be promoted, but the team foundation is based on the experience. One of their best players in the previous part of the season has been Nene, who’s performed sensational so far. He scored as many as 9 goals for now, out of which 4 were scored from free kicks. His fantastic goals have salvaged Monaco against Boulogne, and his magic will be necessary in this clash as well in order to stun the champs. Guy Lacombe has got a few injury worries before this game. Eidur Gudjohnsen, Vincent Muratori and Eduardo Costa will surely be out, while Park Chu-Young and Cedric Mongongu are questionable.
An exciting derby of the round
Bordeaux is usually impressive at home and currently seems to be impossible to beat them at their Chaban-Delmas. Laurent Blanc’s side is entering this high-profiled clash full of confidence and are regarded as favorites. Monaco has been playing quite variable away, getting defeated by 4:0 to Nancy, but recording 3 wins and will surely use every opportunity and careless hosts’ approach to defeat them for the first time after two years. Both sides have been pretty efficient in the previous part of the season. Monaco has recorded tri wins in the last 3 away games, and all those matches had at least 3 goals in total so another over is surely worth trying once again for some medium stakes.
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Prediction:
Tip: Over 2.5
Odd: 2.25
Bookie: Bet365
Stake: 5 /10
Tipster: Kather
