PSV vs Monaco

PSV Eindhoven and Monaco will battle it out for a top place in the UEFA Europa League Group B.

After being held to a 2-2 home draw to Real Sociedad in their Europa League curtain-raiser, PSV put Sturm to the sword last time out, pulling off an eye-catching 4-1 away win to move to the top of Group B. Interestingly, both of the hosts’ Europa League opening goals this season have come on the 32nd minute. PSV’s notable upturn in continental form has seen them win three of their last four home matches in the Europa League (D1), as many victories as they had in their previous 13 home fixtures in the competition (W3, D4, L6). Current ‘Peasants’ boss Roger Schmidt has guided his sides to eight wins in 12 Europa League home games (D2, L2), overseeing his players net an average of 2.33 goals per match in that run.

On the other hand, the visitors have failed to build on a hard-fought 1-0 home win over Sturm on Matchday 1, being held to a 1-1 away draw to Real Sociedad last time out. Another cagey, keenly-contested affair is on the cards here, considering that both of Monaco’s only previous visits to the Philips Stadion have yielded a single-goal winning margin on either side (W1, L1). Coming into this matchday on the back of a 2-0 Ligue 1 defeat to Lyon, ‘Les Monégasques’ will be desperate to bounce back and improve a disappointing record in the Europa League group stage (W2, D4, L2). Curiously, all four draws in that eight-game sequence have yielded the identical 1-1 draw. One bright spot could be Monaco’s encouraging historical record versus Dutch opposition in European football, with the Ligue 1 side losing just two of their ten such match-ups to date.