[Zozo the Duke]

Monaco – St. Etienne

Pick: Monaco
Odds: 1.95 @ BetFair
Stake: 2/10

Both teams started the season very bad with losses. Monaco lost 1:0 from Nancy (away) in the first round and St. Etienne lost at home 1:2 from Sochaux. St. Etienne was known as team that is playing much better in front of their own fans and they played bad in the first round.

Monaco is having a team that is capable of achieving a place that brings European football for the next season and I must admin I like their team. With Kallon, Di Vaio and new signing Koller they are having one of the strongest attacking lines in the league. They are not bad at the back either. Their only disadvantage is that they are not having great support when they are playing at home.

St. Etienne in my opinion will fight against relegation this season. The only reason for that is that they are not good enough. Their coach wants his players to bounce back after the loss in the first round but he admits that will be tough playing against team that posses quality players like Monaco.

I expect Monaco to dictate the tempo and I believe that they are good enough to score against St. Etienne and knowing that St. Etienne have never won in Monaco from 1980. They failed to take all points for 26 years and I hope that they won’t break the curse on this match.