The Ligue 1 campaign resumes on Friday with Monaco welcoming Lorient to Stade Louis II for matchday 18 of the domestic campaign.
A 3-1 defeat at home to Lyon to begin the year dropped the Principality club down to ninth in the table, three places above Lorient, who drew 1-1 with Metz in their 2026 opener.
It is a new year, yet Monaco are achieving similar results from the tail end of 2025, starting off 2026 with another defeat.
Since upsetting Paris Saint-Germain on matchday 14 (1-0), Sebastien Pocognoli’s side have lost three successive league fixtures and could lose four in a row on Friday for the first time since September to October 2018.
Les Monegasques have failed to earn a point in six of their previous seven Ligue 1 encounters, putting them seven points back of a place in Europe next season.
They are in danger on Friday of losing two straight home games in this competition for the second time this season, conceding a combined eight goals in their last three losses at Stade Louis II.
In 2025-26, this team have a 100% domestic record in the Principality when scoring first, doing so on only four occasions.
Les Monegasques have points in six consecutive home games against Lorient, with their last one coming in 2023 (3-1).
© Imago
Slowly but surely, Lorient have turned around what appeared would be another disastrous top-flight campaign into an encouraging one.
The Brittany club lost three of their first four games in Ligue 1 this season, but return to league action on Friday with points in six consecutive top-flight affairs.
Olivier Pantaloni has guided them to an unbeaten run of eight matches across all competitions, putting them five points above the relegation line.
Meanwhile, they are unbeaten in their previous four competitive away games, winning those last two such contests by a combined margin of 10-1.
On Friday, they can earn points from their first two Ligue 1 affairs to begin a calendar year for the first time since claiming four points at the start of 2023.
Les Merlus also have an opportunity to win both matches against Monaco in the same top-flight campaign after beating them 3-1 at home in September.
Monaco Ligue 1 form:
Monaco form (all competitions):
Lorient Ligue 1 form:
Lorient form (all competitions):
© Imago / ZUMA Press Wire
A knee injury will likely keep Paul Pogba, Takumi Minamino, Mohammed Salisu and Lukas Hradecky out of the Monaco fold on Friday, while Christian Mawissa and Ansu Fati have sore hamstrings and Vanderson is dealing with a knock.
Defender Thilo Kehrer is eligible to return from suspension, their only goalscorer against Lyon, Mamadou Coulibaly has two more games to serve on his ban, while Lamine Camara and Krepin Diatta are still with Senegal at the African Cup of Nations.
On the Lorient side, Panos Katseris is the only injury concern, with the Greek midfielder still dealing with a leg injury.
Bamba Dieng scored 17 minutes from the end of their match with Metz, the first of the league season for the Senegalese striker.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Kohn; Kehrer, Dier, Teze; Camara, Zakaria; Akliouche, Biereth, Golovin, Henrique; Balogun
Lorient possible starting lineup:
Mvogo; Silva, Meite, Adjei; Mvuka, Abergel, Cadiou, Le Bris; Dieng, Soumano, Pagis
Sometimes confidence can make or break you, and it seems to be doing the latter for Monaco, who have struggled to take control of matches and stay healthy, both of which we believe will add up to more dropped points for them on Friday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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