Monaco will hope to build on a recent run of decent form at home when they welcome Paris Saint-Germain to the Stade Louis II Stadium on Sunday.
Leonardo Jardim's side have won three home games in a row in all competitions, but will nevertheless feel like rank underdogs against a PSG side currently eight points clear at the top of the table.
Match preview
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Following a dreamlike 2016-17 season, during which they won the Ligue 1 title and reached the Champions League semi-final, Monaco's ability to claim results has deteriorated in stunningly rapid fashion.
Indeed, after losing the spine of their team - players like Kylian Mbappe, Benjamin Mendy, Bernardo Silva - along with Jardim in the following year, Monaco demonstrated quite emphatically that such rapid change can have a deeply negative effect on the team.
The appointment of Thierry Henry last season, at a time when Monaco were struggling at the bottom, only served to worsen the club's position, to the extent that Jardim has since been recalled.
Now, though, there does not seem to be any consistency or groove to a team that has been a victim of its own evolutionary path following the glory of 2017, with Monaco sitting 14th in the table.
Just three years ago, this meeting with PSG was a blockbuster clash, but Monaco head into this game knowing that, before anything, they must avoid the prospect of a comfortable beating like the 4-0 defeat they suffered in the same fixture last season.
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If Monaco are a model of wild oscillation between extremes, PSG's performances in the league have been as utterly dominant as ever this season.
Despite a pair of shock home defeats, Thomas Tuchel's side find themselves with clear daylight between themselves and the rest of the division.
As they prepare to face Monaco, the biggest challenge for PSG for the remainder of the season revolves around maintaining a certain level of application and intensity until May.
The main problem for PSG every season is not winning the league but rather losing a competitive edge as they near an inevitable title, which serves to undermine performances when they enter the knockout phase of the Champions League.
Having already secured safe passage to the knockouts, which start in February, PSG will know that their success in Europe strongly depends on how they approach the league games in between - starting with a game against a classic rival in the south of France.
Recent Monaco form: WWWLWL
Recent Paris Saint-Germain form: WLWWWD
Team News
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Monaco will be without striker Stevan Jovetic due to a ligament injury that looks set to keep him sidelined for some time.
Diego Benaglio, Pietro Pellegri and Willem Geubbels are all also definitely out of Sunday's meeting with the Ligue 1 champions.
Islam Slimani is suspended for this fixture after picking up a red card during Monaco's 2-1 defeat to Bordeaux last weekend.
PSG will be boosted by the return of Neymar, who played against Real Madrid during the week, but are set to be without Ander Herrera, Layvin Kurzawa, Eric Choupo-Moting and Loic Mbe Soh, with no available timescale on when they may return.
Full-back Thilo Kehrer is the only player who could return to the fold having returned to training earlier this month.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Lecomte; Jemerson, Maripan, Poundje, Aguilar, Dias; Golovin, Fabregas, Bakayoko; Augustin, Ben Yedder
Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:
Navas; Dagba, Diallo, Kimpembe, Bernat; Marquinhos, Gueye, Draxler; Di Maria, Mbappe, Neymar
We say: Monaco 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain
The home side will certainly put up a good fight in front of their own supporters, but you suspect that the longer the game goes on, the more PSG's superior quality will shine through - especially with Neymar back in the starting XI.
