Overview of the match Monaco – Aston Villa
Out of form at home and in the Champions League, Monaco are three points off the automatic round of 16 and an elimination place as Adi Hutter’s side look to end a three-game losing streak in Europe at home to Aston Villa on Tuesday (1745 GMT).
After Friday’s 2-1 defeat at Montpelier, which left them without a win in four games in 2025, Hutter denied his players were distracted by the prospect of facing the 1981/82 European champions in the penultimate round.
“I have a lot of respect for Montpellier, but we had to push ourselves to get our confidence back,” said the Austrian after his side dropped the lead at the bottom of Ligue 1, gifting Musa Al-Taamari the equaliser.
“Tuesday will be a completely different game: it’s the Champions League at home, but I don’t think the team already had Aston Villa in mind.
“We were dominant in the first half. We were the better team. And after [equaliser] and the way we admitted it, I started to see bad body language… we [then] he managed to be dangerous only in the last minutes.”
Villa are eighth in the Premier League after a contrasting story on Saturday, recovering from 2-0 down after 59 minutes against title hopefuls Arsenal secure a 2-2 draw thanks to two goals from Ollie Watkins and Youri Tielemans within nine minutes.
They are within the automatic promotion places by a point, helped by Ross Barkley’s 85th-minute winner in a 3-2 win at Leipzig on December 10.
“Arsenal were the better team but Villa came back and drew,” said Hutter, noting that his colleague Unai Emery won the Europa League three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal.
“[Emiliano] Martinez is an incredible goalkeeper. [Morgan] Rogers is a fantastic number 10, [with Jhon] Duran and Watkins as strikers.
“Tielemans is the pacemaker in the center of the midfield. We also have to be very careful with every goal in this league. Every goal can be decisive.”
Monaco vs Villa team news
Folarin Balogun is out for a long time for Monaco after shoulder surgery, while fellow striker George Ilenikhena is sidelined with a muscle problem.
Winger Krepin Diatta is not fit and defender Thilo Kehrer – who scored against Montpelier – will be suspended if he is booked.
“If we drop the intensity, coach will absolutely kill us,” forward Breel Embolo said, via Birmingham live. “The teams show us more respect, and the opponents defend more firmly. We have to adapt ourselves.
“We are still the same team we were three months ago. We have the same coach and players. It’s an opportunity to make things right.”
Midfielders Amadou Onana and John McGinn are doubts for Villa, who are without defenders Diego Carlos (suspension) and Pau Torres (ankle), as well as playmaker Barkley with a calf injury.
Duran, who was reportedly the subject of a £57m bid from West Ham on Mondayhe will be suspended for the visit to Celtic on January 29 (8pm) if the forward receives a yellow card.
New signing Donyell Malen cannot be registered for the Champions League until the knockout stage.
Monaco vs Aston Villa expected lineups
Monaco: Majecki; Caio Henrique, Kehrer, Singo, Vanderson; Čamara, Zakaria; Ben Seghir, Golovin, Akliouche; Embolus
Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne; Kamara, Onana; Bailey, Tielemans, Ramsey; Watkins
Prediction
At the end of the first phasea win for either side could be hugely important to their ambitions of automatic promotion by finishing as one of the top eight teams in the new 36-team single-table format.
A lot could depend on whether Monaco can find the form they found at the start of the season, take 10 points out of a possible 12 and beat Barcelona and Red Star at home.
Hutter’s side briefly topped France as part of an eight-game unbeaten run in Ligue 1, but they have since lost five and drawn two of 10 league games, suffering back-to-back European defeats at home to Benfica and Arsenal.
In their first campaign in the modern Champions League, Villa suffered their only defeat, a loss to Club Brugge, while their defensive record is the fourth best in this season’s competition.
By contrast, only three teams in the top 23 have conceded more goals than the 10 conceded by Monaco, who lost 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain in their only home game since December 7.
Finalists from the 2003/04 season. they will not want to visit Inter’s final games in an uncomfortably close position in relation to the bottom eight elimination positions, and they have a useful record against English opposition, winning 11 and drawing six of 21 meetings.
Villa won three times and drew 2-2 twice in the last five games. Expect them to repeat the defensive rigor they showed in Europe this season in a 1-1 draw.
