Monaco vs Club Brugge Predictions

Thierry Henry may have moved to the south of France, but the sun isn’t shining on him right now. The former Arsenal man is still without a win after taking charge of Monaco, and his side are struggling in Ligue 1 and the Champions League. Tuesday brings a chance for Henry to start turning things around, as his side meet Club Brugge. A loss for the hosts would put them out of contention in Europe, and pile even more pressure onto Henry after just weeks in the role. Can he end his wait for a victory?

Henry’s side are second from bottom in the league and in their Champions League group. Monaco may have sold off some big stars in recent years, but they have enough talent to make a top six push in Ligue 1 at least. However, the club are mired in the relegation after a huge turnover of players, and they look rudderless so far this season. Their recent injury crisis didn’t exactly help matters, and Henry’s side still isn’t at full strength. That showed in their latest setback, Saturday’s defeat at Reims.

The visitors are in a title race domestically, sitting just three points shy of Genk as they chase the Belgian championship. However, that form hasn’t transferred to Europe, as Brugge have a point from their first three matches in Europe. They picked up a draw at home to Monaco last time out, and they’ll be hopeful of getting something out of Tuesday’s encounter with the struggling Ligue 1 outfit. However, the Belgians have a terrible record in this competition, so can they change their fortunes here?

Neither of these two are going to trouble Atletico Madrid or Borussia Dortmund for a place in the last 16. Club Brugge are winless in their last 11 fixtures in the Champions League (D2 L9), scoring just five goals in this run, and never more than once in a single game. Since beating Borussia Dortmund in both legs of the Champions League quarter-finals in 2016-17, Monaco have gone 11 games without a win in the competition (D3 L8).

These two each look off the pace in Europe, and we don’t expect them to turn things around here. The visitors haven’t won away in this competition in 13 attempts, while Monaco have gone 14 games without a victory this season. We can’t see either team edging this one, so our pick is a draw here, while a repeat of their 1-1 draw last month is our predicted scoreline.