Monaco host Auxerre tomorrow at Stade Louis II at 15:00 local time, and the gap to the European places is only a single point. Adi Hütter’s side sit seventh on 49 points, breathing down the necks of Rennes and Lyon, and four straight league wins have turned a stuttering winter into a spring surge.
Monaco’s run has been built at home, with ten wins already, and the next target is to squeeze Auxerre early and keep them boxed in. Folarin Balogun remains the leading scorer with 11 goals, Aleksandr Golovin the main provider with five assists, so the plan is clear: aggressive press, quick service into the American, and rotations around the box to pin Christophe Pélissier’s low block. Hütter has drilled the rest defence hard this week after conceding 43 league goals, and the staff want the back line ready for quick Auxerre breaks.
Auxerre arrive sixteenth on 24 points, stuck in the relegation play-off slot, yet the mood is stubborn rather than desperate. Pélissier’s group has lost just once in five, drawing three of those, and they respect the need to slow the tempo. Lassine Sinayoko, seven goals and three assists, is the reference point on transition, and Auxerre will trust their compact mid-block to frustrate before hitting the channels. The away form remains a problem, only one win from fourteen trips, but they believe the current structure can keep them in touch until the closing weeks.
Tactically it boils down to width and pace. Monaco will try to overload the flanks, drag Auxerre’s wing-backs into two-v-one scenarios, then slip Balogun into the seam. Auxerre must absorb that pressure, stay tight between the lines, and look for Sinayoko’s diagonal runs into the space behind Monaco’s pressing wing-backs. With no fresh injury whispers emerging this evening, both coaches should be able to lean on their established cores, even if the final XIs land tomorrow.
Every point now feeds into the broader Ligue 1 picture. Monaco can climb to fifth with a win and keep the Champions League chase alive before the season’s final sprint, while Auxerre need something tangible to fend off Nantes and Metz in the drop zone. Keep an eye as well on how the top of the table shifts in Paris Saint-Germain vs Lyon preview; Monaco will be hoping for any slip above them.
Key numbers
- Monaco: 7th place, 49 points, goal difference +7, home record 10-1-4, league form LWWWW.
- Auxerre: 16th place, 24 points, goal difference -14, away record 1-5-8, league form DDWLD.
- Monaco goals for/against: 50/43. Auxerre goals for/against: 23/37.
- Top scorers: Folarin Balogun 11 (Monaco); Lassine Sinayoko 7 (Auxerre).
- Leading creators: Aleksandr Golovin 5 assists (Monaco); Lassine Sinayoko 3 assists (Auxerre).
If Monaco finish the job tomorrow the pressure shifts back onto their rivals; if Auxerre steal a result the entire relegation battle tightens again heading into the final eight rounds.
Monaco current squad:
- L. Hrádecký (Goalkeeper, #1, age 36)
- P. Köhn (Goalkeeper, #16, age 27)
- Y. Lienard (Goalkeeper, #50, age 22)
- J. Stawiecki (Goalkeeper, #40, age 18)
- Caio Henrique (Defender, #12, age 28)
- E. Dier (Defender, #3, age 31)
- W. Faes (Defender, #25, age 27)
- T. Kehrer (Defender, #5, age 29)
- B. Kiwa (Defender, #43, age 19)
- C. Mawissa Elebi (Defender, #13, age 20)
- K. Ouattara (Defender, #20, age 21)
- M. Salisu (Defender, #22, age 26)
- J. Teze (Midfielder, #4, age 26)
- Vanderson (Defender, #2, age 24)
- A. Bamba (Midfielder, #23, age 19)
- Pape Cabral (Midfielder, #41, age 18)
- L. Camara (Midfielder, #15, age 21)
- M. Coulibaly (Attacker, #28, age 21)
- K. Diatta (Midfielder, #27, age 26)
- A. Golovin (Midfielder, #10, age 29)
- S. Idumbo-Muzambo (Midfielder, #17, age 20)
- S. Nibombé (Midfielder, #44, age 18)
- P. Pogba (Midfielder, #8, age 32)
- I. Toure (Midfielder, #41, age 19)
- D. Zakaria (Defender, #6, age 29)
- S. Adingra (Midfielder, #24, age 23)
- M. Akliouche (Midfielder, #11, age 23)
- F. Balogun (Attacker, #9, age 24)
- M. Biereth (Attacker, #14, age 22)
- Paris Josua Brunner (Attacker, #29, age 19)
- Ansu Fati (Attacker, #31, age 23)
- T. Minamino (Attacker, #8, age 30)
Auxerre current squad:
- T. De Percin (Goalkeeper, #40, age 24)
- D. Léon (Goalkeeper, #16, age 33)
- Louis Mezerette (Goalkeeper, #37, age 19)
- T. Negrel (Goalkeeper, #30, age 22)
- C. Akpa (Defender, #92, age 24)
- E. Diamalunda (Defender, #43, age 19)
- S. Diomandé (Defender, #20, age 24)
- E. Legros (Defender, #35, age 17)
- G. Mensah (Defender, #14, age 27)
- B. Okoh (Defender, #24, age 22)
- F. Oppegård (Midfielder, #22, age 23)
- M. Senaya (Defender, #29, age 24)
- F. Sierralta (Defender, #4, age 28)
- T. Siwe (Defender, #13, age 21)
- L. Sy (Defender, #27, age 23)
- N. Ahamada (Midfielder, #8, age 23)
- K. Danois (Midfielder, #5, age 21)
- T. Devernois (Midfielder, #36, age 18)
- A. Dioussé (Midfielder, #18, age 28)
- O. El Azzouzi (Midfielder, #17, age 24)
- R. Faivre (Midfielder, #28, age 27)
- E. Owusu (Midfielder, #42, age 28)
- J. Casimir (Attacker, #7, age 24)
- Mamoudou Cissokho (Attacker, #44, age 17)
- L. Coulibaly (Midfielder, #21, age 23)
- S. Mara (Attacker, #9, age 23)
- D. Namaso (Midfielder, #19, age 25)
- R. Rodin (Attacker, #31, age 19)
- L. Sinayoko (Attacker, #10, age 26)
- Y. Zaddy (Attacker, #41, age 19)
