Monaco vs St. Etienne prediction 17.08.2024 | Ligue 1

• Competition: Ligue 1
• Date: Saturday, 17th August, 2024
• Kickoff: 20:00 UK / 21:00 CEST
• Venue: Stade Louis II (Monaco)

After about three months, French Ligue 1 is set to restart. One of the more exciting games of the first round is between the vice-champions, Monaco, and the newly promoted St. Etienne.

Since Monaco returned to Ligue 1 in 2013/14, they were mostly among the top three teams in France. Last year, they finished second but were not even close to winning the title, as PSG left them nine points behind. Still, by securing the Champions League, they can undoubtedly be satisfied, which will be their primary goal this season as well. Over the Summer, the team added some interesting players but mainly focused on adding young ones, so it is hard to expect they can challenge PSG for the title.

St. Etienne, a ten-time French champion, spent the previous two seasons in Ligue 2. Last year, they managed to return to the French top-flight division, but as they finished 3rd, they had to go through the Playoffs. Luckily, they managed to win on a 4:3 aggregate but were super lucky because Metz received a red card at the start of the second game. Their primary goal this season is to secure survival, but the bookies do not trust them. The bookies see them as the second favorite for relegation, offering odds around 2.6 for them to end up in Ligue 2 next season.

Monaco vs St. Etienne pick: Over 2.5 goals

Monaco were one of the best teams in the league for this type of bet last season, with 62% of their games finishing with three or more goals. Only PSG and Lorient had more games with three or more goals last year. This year, at least in the pre-season, Monaco continued to play high-scoring games. In seven friendlies, we saw three or more goals on five occasions.

Last year, St. Etienne was not particularly great offensively, but they made some significant improvements in the last part of the season. They continued with good offensive play in the pre-season, scoring at least a goal in five of six games and two or more goals on four occasions. Considering they faced solid teams like Montpellier, Villarreal, Grenoble, or Clermont, there are definitely reasons to be optimistic about before the start of the season.

In the previous four h2h games, we saw three or more goals every time, while both teams scored on three occasions. Considering all the above, we expect another high-scoring game, most likely with both teams scoring.