AS Monaco have started the new Ligue 1 season with a pair of disappointing results and they will now look for form in a Champions League qualifier against Shakhtar Donetsk.
The first leg will likely be a tight one and bookmaker 10Bet has the odds at 2.45 for Monaco to record a clean sheet and at 5.50 for Shakhtar to not concede.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 16th, 12:00 P.M. (EST)
Monaco played out a 1-1 draw with Nantes in their first Ligue 1 outing and they got shocked by Lorient over the past weekend suffering a 1-0 loss. Niko Kovac’s men had over 72 percent of possession, outshot the opponent 12 to 2, but gave away a first-half penalty and found no way back.
Following a run of 17 wins and just two losses in 23 games to close out the previous campaign, the start has been very underwhelming and Kovac will soon find himself under big pressure if things don’t improve.
Monaco relies heavily on captain Wissam Ben Yedder who’s been one of the best scorers in Ligue 1 in recent years, and they will hope that summer signings Myron Boadu, Jean Lucas and Ismail Jakobs adapt quickly to their new surroundings.
Taking down Shakhtar won’t be an easy task. The Miners have been Champions League regulars for over 10 years and they boast a lot of quality with multiple Brazilians part of the squad. Benfica’s Pedrinho and former Barcelona man Marlon have joined their countrymen for the 2021-22 campaign.
Marlon made only two appearances for Barca in La Liga, but he managed to build himself a nice career in Serie A with Sassuolo. Pedrinho didn’t feature much for Benfica, but they seem to have high hopes for him in Donetsk after making the 23-year-old the second-most expensive signing in club history with an 18 million euro deal.
Shakhtar’s new signings also include Lassina Traore who was snapped up from Ajax for 10 million euros. The 20-year-old has enjoyed a very productive start in Ukraine notching four goals in six games across all competitions.
It’s a start of a new era for the 13-time Ukrainian champions with Roberto De Zerbi coming in as the new manager. The 42-year-old worked with Marlon at Sassuolo and he had an impressive spell at the club leading the minnows to two consecutive eighth-place finishes in Italy. His work in Donetsk has been near-perfect thus far with five wins from six matches.
