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Preview: Spurs visit Monaco in the Principality

Preview: Spurs visit Monaco in the Principality

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Spurs travel to the Mediterranean for a Champions League fixture against a Monaco side who’ve already spun the managerial roulette wheel this season.

By Matt Smith

Both Monaco and Spurs arrive for this fixture in a slightly out-of-sorts condition

Both Monaco and Spurs have been under par, of late. Spurs’ 2-1 home defeat against Aston Villa on Sunday seemed to indicate that Thomas Frank’s plans for his team aren’t quite going according to plan, but he’s not alone in being in this position. Their Champions League performances so far have been underwhelming but more or less effective, with a 2-2 draw against Bodø/Glimt and a 1-0 home win against Villarreal. 

Like Spurs, Monaco started their season pretty well, but also like Spurs, they’ve tailed off in recent weeks. They’re three games without a win in Ligue 1, and their Champions League performances so far have hardly set the world alight either, with a 4-1 defeat at Club Brugge in their opening match followed up by a more respectable 2–2 home draw against Manchester City.

Monaco have a 100% competitive record against Spurs in the Champions League

These two clubs have only been drawn together once in the Champions League. This came in the 2016-17 group stage, and Monaco won both meetings 2-1. They ended that stage at the top of the group – they were eventually eliminated in the semi-finals by Juventus – while Spurs finished third and were transferred into the Europa League, where they were promptly knocked out in the Round of 32 by Belgian side Gent. 

There was happier news for Spurs a season prior to this, when they met in the group stages of the Europa League. The two sides drew 1-1 in Monaco, but Spurs won the return match at White Hart Lane 4-1. On that occasion, Spurs won the group – and were beaten in the Round of 16 by Borussia Dortmund – while Monaco finished third and were eliminated.

Fati is back on form, Johnson needs to rediscover his

There is one particular goal threat for which the Spurs defence will need to be especially prepared. Ansu Fati has had a stop-start career so far. The young forward remains a Barcelona player, and following a mixed time on loan in the Premier League at Brighton during the 2023-24 season he returned to Catalunya. Having failed to establish himself there, he was loaned out to Monaco for the 2025-26 season, where he’s found his shooting boots again, with six goals in six games in all competitions. 

One Spurs player with a point to prove is forward Brennan Johnson. He scored in Spurs’ first two Premier League matches of the season but hasn’t done so again since, and with only a goal against Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Cup to show for the last couple of months, his recent form in front of goal has become a bit of a concern. 

Monaco have changed manager, while Spurs have further injury doubts

There have been two big pieces of team news from Monaco in the last couple of weeks. One concerns the man who’ll be picking the team. Adi Hutter was sacked during the international break and has been replaced by the former West Bromwich Albion left-back Sebastien Pocognoli. Pocognoli was at Union Saint-Gilloise last season, taking them to their first-ever Jupiler League title and their first ever appearance in the Champions League group stage. 

Their big injury news concerns Eric Dier, who was at Spurs for a decade before going to Bayern Munich and then on to Monaco this summer. Dier will have been looking forward to locking horns with his former club, but a muscle injury has rendered him injured for a few weeks and he will not be taking part in this fixture. They will also be missing Lamine Kamara, Denis Zakaria, Lukas Hradecky, Christian Mawissa, Paul Pogba and Vanderson. 

Spurs have further injury concerns, with Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero and Ben Davies all doubtful, to add to their list of longer-term injuries, which still consists of James Maddison, Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Yves Bissouma and Kota Takai.

Monaco and Spurs seem likely to cancel each other out

In seventh and sixth place in their domestic league respectively, Monaco and Spurs have both seen promising starts to their seasons tail off in recent weeks. Monaco have been in transition, with their managerial replacement, and they have a proven goalscorer leading their line. This could create problems for a Spurs defence which hasn’t kept a clean sheet since the 24th September. 

The financial advantages conferred by being in the Premier League should hand a considerable advantage to Spurs for a fixture such as this, but seasoned Tottenham observers will already know that they just don’t seem to work in a logical sense, much of the time. Monaco need a win if they’re to kick-start their Champions League campaign and Spurs need a result following a very disappointing home defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend. These two teams seem likely to cancel each other out, so I’m going for a 1-1 draw.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Champions League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, physical metrics, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Preview: Spurs visit Monaco in the Principality

Spurs travel to the Mediterranean for a Champions League fixture against a Monaco side who’ve already spun the managerial roulette wheel this season.

By Matt Smith

Both Monaco and Spurs arrive for this fixture in a slightly out-of-sorts condition

Both Monaco and Spurs have been under par, of late. Spurs’ 2-1 home defeat against Aston Villa on Sunday seemed to indicate that Thomas Frank’s plans for his team aren’t quite going according to plan, but he’s not alone in being in this position. Their Champions League performances so far have been underwhelming but more or less effective, with a 2-2 draw against Bodø/Glimt and a 1-0 home win against Villarreal. 

Like Spurs, Monaco started their season pretty well, but also like Spurs, they’ve tailed off in recent weeks. They’re three games without a win in Ligue 1, and their Champions League performances so far have hardly set the world alight either, with a 4-1 defeat at Club Brugge in their opening match followed up by a more respectable 2–2 home draw against Manchester City.

Monaco have a 100% competitive record against Spurs in the Champions League

These two clubs have only been drawn together once in the Champions League. This came in the 2016-17 group stage, and Monaco won both meetings 2-1. They ended that stage at the top of the group – they were eventually eliminated in the semi-finals by Juventus – while Spurs finished third and were transferred into the Europa League, where they were promptly knocked out in the Round of 32 by Belgian side Gent. 

There was happier news for Spurs a season prior to this, when they met in the group stages of the Europa League. The two sides drew 1-1 in Monaco, but Spurs won the return match at White Hart Lane 4-1. On that occasion, Spurs won the group – and were beaten in the Round of 16 by Borussia Dortmund – while Monaco finished third and were eliminated.

Fati is back on form, Johnson needs to rediscover his

There is one particular goal threat for which the Spurs defence will need to be especially prepared. Ansu Fati has had a stop-start career so far. The young forward remains a Barcelona player, and following a mixed time on loan in the Premier League at Brighton during the 2023-24 season he returned to Catalunya. Having failed to establish himself there, he was loaned out to Monaco for the 2025-26 season, where he’s found his shooting boots again, with six goals in six games in all competitions. 

One Spurs player with a point to prove is forward Brennan Johnson. He scored in Spurs’ first two Premier League matches of the season but hasn’t done so again since, and with only a goal against Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Cup to show for the last couple of months, his recent form in front of goal has become a bit of a concern. 

Monaco have changed manager, while Spurs have further injury doubts

There have been two big pieces of team news from Monaco in the last couple of weeks. One concerns the man who’ll be picking the team. Adi Hutter was sacked during the international break and has been replaced by the former West Bromwich Albion left-back Sebastien Pocognoli. Pocognoli was at Union Saint-Gilloise last season, taking them to their first-ever Jupiler League title and their first ever appearance in the Champions League group stage. 

Their big injury news concerns Eric Dier, who was at Spurs for a decade before going to Bayern Munich and then on to Monaco this summer. Dier will have been looking forward to locking horns with his former club, but a muscle injury has rendered him injured for a few weeks and he will not be taking part in this fixture. They will also be missing Lamine Kamara, Denis Zakaria, Lukas Hradecky, Christian Mawissa, Paul Pogba and Vanderson. 

Spurs have further injury concerns, with Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero and Ben Davies all doubtful, to add to their list of longer-term injuries, which still consists of James Maddison, Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke, Yves Bissouma and Kota Takai.

Monaco and Spurs seem likely to cancel each other out

In seventh and sixth place in their domestic league respectively, Monaco and Spurs have both seen promising starts to their seasons tail off in recent weeks. Monaco have been in transition, with their managerial replacement, and they have a proven goalscorer leading their line. This could create problems for a Spurs defence which hasn’t kept a clean sheet since the 24th September. 

The financial advantages conferred by being in the Premier League should hand a considerable advantage to Spurs for a fixture such as this, but seasoned Tottenham observers will already know that they just don’t seem to work in a logical sense, much of the time. Monaco need a win if they’re to kick-start their Champions League campaign and Spurs need a result following a very disappointing home defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend. These two teams seem likely to cancel each other out, so I’m going for a 1-1 draw.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Champions League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, physical metrics, and player ratings. Download the free app here.