UEFA Champions League Qualifiers: Monaco vs. PSV Preview, Odds, Prediction

Monaco and PSV meet in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers early on, making their matchup the most sounding one of all this Tuesday. The team from Monte Carlo awaits the Dutch powerhouse and the former European champions, in not such a great mood. Monaco was terrible in the recent few preseason performances, and from what we saw, they have multiple issues they would need to take care of. On the other side, PSV is flying high after demolishing Ajax in the Dutch Super Cup. We’ve seen one very good performance in which they outplayed the big rivals in every aspect.

Preview

Monaco (-105) is a favorite in this event, despite not winning in the past three events they played. After 2-2 against Inter, they lost to Porto, 2-1 and Southampton, 3-1, worrying their fans. Monaco wasn’t too confident throughout the preseason period, having two wins, three draws, and two losses, as said, both coming in the final two events.

The French unit didn’t have a bombastic transfer window. They sold Aurelien Tchouameni to Real Madrid, earning around $80 million, and a few less famous players. On the other side, Monaco landed Takumi Minamino from Liverpool and Breel Embolo from Monchengladbach, both forwards.

From what we’ve seen during the tests, Monaco has problems with defense, as they managed to keep two clean sheets in these friendly games, one against Cercle Brugge and the other against Portimonense.

PSV (+250) was stunning this Saturday, rolling over Ajax in their own house, 3-5. It was the Dutch Super Cup trophy game, and after a slow opening and Ajax’s lead, everyone believed that the hosts would routinely defeat the rivals. But… that isn’t how it ended.

Guus Til scored a hat-trick, showing that his arrival to Eindhoven will be a massive plus for PSV. Once the guests started to roll, they kept going all the way until the end.

PSV was gradually improving its form before the start of the campaign. They opened the preseason games slowly, losing a few, but as time went by, the form started improving and they currently have three wins in a row, counting the game against Ajax. Previously they beat Eindhoven FC, 5-0, and after that Betis, 2-1.

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The host doesn’t have injury problems or any other, and the entire team will be available to play.

PSV is without Andre Ramalho, Mauro Junior, and Carlos Vinicius, who are all injured and have been like that for a while.

Head to Head

Monaco and PSV met last year in the Europa League group stage. The French team had more success, winning in Eindhoven, 1-2, and then playing 0-0 at home. They also had two friendly international games, in 2017, 0-0, and two years earlier once Monaco won, 3-1.

Prediction

The way Monaco’s defense plays, there will be a lot of space for the guests to strike. We aren’t so sure which team is going to win, but what is reasonable to believe is that both teams would score. The odds are -166, and for us, this pick has value.

Pick: Both teams to score -166