Preview: Monaco vs. Red Star Belgrade – prediction, team news, lineups

Monaco will look to extend their unbeaten start to the season when they are welcome Red Star Belgrade to the Stade Louis II in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Adi Huttergiven up on the side first place in Ligue 1 at the weekend, but achieved another positive result in excellent form.

Match example

© Image

Reaching the 10-game milestone for the season and still being unbeaten marks an excellent start for Monaco, who are keeping pace with Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the French top flight.

Despite a 0-0 draw against Lille on Friday, Jordan TezePSG’s red card on the hour mark ultimately made it a good point for the principality club, even if PSG’s victory the next day saw them move above Monaco on goal difference.

That was yet another threat to their unbeaten run that Monaco has endured as they weathered a storm both literally and figuratively in their last Champions League appearance against Dinamo Zagreb, coming from a 2-0 draw. Denis Zakaria imposing a late penalty.

Having also beaten Barcelona on matchday one, this gives Monaco the chance to go three unbeatens and start their UCL campaign for the first time since 2016/17 – a season in which they reached the semi-finals.

The current crop don’t have the same star quality as the Monaco collective, but they will still be confident against a Red Star side they beat twice two seasons ago, winning 4-1 here and 1-0 in Belgrade.

© Image

A Luka Ilic The masterclass saw the Serbs maintain their healthy lead at the top of the Super League, beating Radnicki Nis 5-1 on Friday evening.

In a very strange encounter, complacency certainly crept in to Red Star, who led 3-0 at half time, but then needed a goalkeeper Marko Ilic to make 11 saves in the second half to keep the rampaging Radnicki at bay, in a match that saw 32 shots on target.

However, with very little competition in their own country, Red Star has serious problems in making the step to the Champions League. They failed to win any of their previous twelve matches in the competition – losing eleven.

Away from home, Red Star are doing even worse, as they have lost eleven in a row, conceded 37 goals and scored just six. It’s no surprise that they haven’t made it past the first stage of the competition since they won it in 1991.

Vladan MilojevicHowever, the side will have to make history if they want to end these barren runs as Red Star have never won a European match in France after eight visits, conceding at least twice in all those encounters.

Monaco Champions League Form:

Monaco form (all competitions):

Red Star Belgrade Champions League Form:

Red Star Belgrade form (all competitions):

Team news

© Image

Monaco was weakened by news during the recent internationals Mohammed Salisu developed a muscle problem while serving in Ghana, and Folarin Balogun was ruled out for two months after dislocating his shoulder in their last match before half-time.

Teze’s red card won’t affect his availability here, so Hutter could start him knowing he will be suspended next weekend.

The Monaco boss rested some of his key players on Friday, possibly with one during this match, but also because some were away on international duty, such as Vanderson, Breel Embolo And Maghnes Akliouche.

Red Star also switched sides on Friday evening, with Omri Glazer rested in goal, allowing stand-in Ilic to put in an excellent performance between the sticks, but the Israeli is likely to get back in.

Cherif Ndiaye, Silas And Vanja Drkusic were also rested ahead of this match, and although Luka Ilic has played just 31 minutes of Champions League football so far, his hat-trick against Radnicki could see him rewarded with a start.

The visitors are without injuries Mirko Ivanic And Ognjen Mimovicbut there are no new concerns from Friday’s gains.

Possible starting line-up for Monaco:
Kohn; Vanderson, Singo, Kehrer, Caio Henrique; Zakaria, Camara; Akliouche, Minamino, Ben Seghir; Embolo

Possible starting line-up for Red Star Belgrade:
Glazer; Seol, Spajic, Drkusic, Djiga; Krunic, Elsnik, L Ilic; Silas, Ndiaye, Olayinka

We say: Monaco 4-1 Red Star Belgrade

Red Star’s away form in the Champions League says it all, and a twelfth consecutive defeat is expected against a Monaco team that is yet to lose this season.

No team has gone longer in the UCL without keeping a clean sheet than Monaco (22 games), but they should have more than enough in attack to comfortably sweep aside their Serbian opponents here.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match, click here.

Previews by email