Football Bet of the Day: Les Verts look a bit too green | OneFootball

Bet of the Day

Adi Hutter led Monaco to second last season

After picking up four winners out of five this week and eight out of the last nine overall, Kevin Hatchard's looking for succes in the French top flight.

Monaco v St EtienneSaturday 17 August, 20:00

We got back on the horse in double-quick time last night in the Turkish Super Lig, as the champs Galatasaray delivered us a 2-1 victory at Konyaspor. Now we'll switch our attention to the new Ligue 1 season, because Monaco play their first game of the campaign at home to newly-promoted St Etienne.

St Etienne are an enormous name in French football, but they have fallen on hard times recently. They won promotion last term, and their new Canadian owners seem stable, so things are on the up. ASSE have made some interesting additions, bringing in Georgian international Zuriko Davitashvili and veteran defender Yunis Abdelhamid.

However, Ligue 1 is a step up in class, and a trip to Monaco is not an easy start. Adi Hutter's men finished second last term, finishing six points clear of third-placed Brest and qualifying automatically for the Champions League group phase. They have spent heavily on young talent, recruiting 17-year-old forward George Ilenikhena from Antwerp, bringing in Toulouse's teenage centre-back Christian Mawissa and snapping up 20-year-old Metz midfielder Lamine Camara.

Monaco looked sharp in pre-season (they beat Barcelona 3-0 in their last outing), and with Breel Embolo back after long-term injury to partner Folarin Balogun, they have a fearsome attack, even when you considering the departure of veteran Wissam Ben Yedder. Les Monegasques have won their last four home games in Ligue 1, and I'm happy to back them -1.0 here on the at

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