For the first time in over a decade, Auxerre and Monaco will meet in a Ligue 1 encounter on Wednesday at Stade de l'Abbe-Deschamps.
The club from Burgundy are unbeaten in their last three home fixtures in this competition, while Les Monegasques have only dropped one of their seven domestic matches away from home this season.
Match preview
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Christophe Pelissier has had over a month to try to fix what went wrong for his team in their last match before the season paused for the World Cup, when they were beaten comprehensively, 5-0, away to Paris Saint-Germain.
The small club that dazzled French football in the 90s have had a rough go of it this season with only 13 points after 15 contests, their lowest tally at this stage of a top-flight campaign since 1981-82 (11).
Decades ago, they were the darlings of Ligue 1, often punching above their weight against teams with much bigger budgets than them.
However, this season AJA have often been outclassed by more superior and experienced sides in the top-flight, having earned just a single point against a top 10 opponent, tied with Montpellier for the fewest this season.
It took this team 10 years to return to Ligue 1, but at the moment, they are positioned to drop back down into the second tier, currently in the final relegation position.
The good news for this loyal fanbase is that there is not a lot of ground to make up as only three points currently separate them from Toulouse in 12th, while Auxerre have not lost successive league fixtures since the sacking of Jean-Marc Furlan in October.
Auxerre have earned six points from losing positions over this campaign, with six of their 14 goals in Ligue 1 coming in the final 20 minutes of play.
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Over in the Principality, Les Rouges-et-Blancs went through a demanding schedule before the top-flight campaign took a break, with only one entire week off between games for them from the start of October until their last competitive fixture in mid-November.
Philippe Clement's men ended their previous Ligue 1 affair on a sour note, squandering a 2-1 lead at home to Marseille, conceding a pair of goals beyond the 80th minute to lose 3-2.
That was the second defeat for them in their last four league matches, which is as many as this team suffered in the opening 11 games of the season.
Monaco are unbeaten in their last eight Ligue 1 encounters versus newly promoted clubs, winning five in a row against those sides in this competition, including a 2-0 triumph at Toulouse in early November.
With 27 points after 15 domestic affairs, it is their best start to a top-flight campaign since 2017-18 (29), when they finished the season in second.
Defensively, they have looked comfortable and well-organised away from home, posting four clean sheets in their last five domestic affairs as the visitors.
Team News
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M'Baye Niang scored five goals for AJA in their three friendlies played this month, including four when his side defeated Metz 5-1, Benoit Costil is fifth in the league regarding saves with 50, posting a clean sheet in their 1-0 triumph over Hajduk Split last Wednesday, while Hamza Sakhi had the only goal in their previous domestic home fixture, which they won 1-0 over Ajaccio.
The last goal scored by Auxerre at this competition came courtesy of Gaetan Perrin, his second of the season, drawing even with Mathias Autret, Nuno da Costa and Niang for the team lead.
During the World Cup break, Gaetan Charbonnier, who was third in Ligue 2 scoring last season with 17 goals, left AJA to sign with Saint-Etienne, with Niang taking his spot in the attack versus PSG, one of three changes for Auxerre heading into that encounter, while Paul Joly and Autret also drew into the lineup in place of Gauthier Hein and Da Costa.
Ismail Jakobs and Breel Embolo each scored twice for Monaco in a 4-2 friendly win over Leeds United last week, while Wissam Ben Yedder and Kevin Volland found the back of the net in their previous domestic outing versus Marseille.
Alexander Nubel has two clean sheets in his last three Ligue 1 fixtures, conceding in only one road game domestically since September, Aleksandr Golovin is up to three goals this season, with two in his previous three league matches, while Caio Henrique has five assists over this campaign, currently tied for third in Ligue 1.
Willem Geubbels could miss this encounter because of a muscle injury, while Clement added three newcomers to his starting 11 versus Marseille, with Benoit Badiashile, Krepin Diatta and Ben Yedder taking the places of Vanderson, Takumi Minamino and Embolo.
Auxerre possible starting lineup:
Costil; Mensah, Jeanvier, Jubal, Raveloson; Hein, Toure, Sakhi, Sinayoko; Niang, Perrin
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Disasi, Badiashile, Maripan, Henrique; Fofana; Diatta, Volland, Golovin; Ben Yedder, Embolo
We say: Auxerre 0-1 Monaco
Monaco look a lot more compact on the road than they do at Stade Louis II, and their creativity in the midfield, along with some in-form strikers, should make it difficult for Auxerre to get a foothold in this game.
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