Monaco vs Barcelona Prediction: Bet on Yamal to score anytime

Our Spanish Football expert had 17/20 and 7/5 winners in his Real Madrid vs Stuttgart preview earlier in the week and is looking to do just as well when he covers the Catalan giants opening Champions League game.

He provides his Monaco vs Barcelona Predictions in his full match preview here at Betfred Insights for the match live on TNT Sports 2 from 20:00 on Thursday evening...

Barcelona begin their bid for a first Champions League trophy in a decade, with a trip to Monaco to take on last season's Ligue 1 runners up. 

These clubs met only five weeks ago to contest the Joan Gamper Trophy, Barcelona's traditional season curtain-raiser. That match ended in a 3-0 Monaco win, with murmurings of discontent at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys before the campaign had even kicked off. 

Fast forward to September and the mood in the Catalan capital is considerably brighter. New boss Hansi Flick has made an instant impact, with Barça winning five out of five so far in La Liga, scoring 17 goals in the process. 

They've played with an energy and intensity that was at times lacking under Xavi. The last two performances have been among the very best we've seen from Barcelona in recent years, with Real Valladolid demolished by a 7-0 margin, before a convincing 4-1 win away to a Girona side that defeated them twice last term. 

Aside from Flick's impact, the astonishing rise of Lamine Yamal has certainly been a factor in their improvement. The teenager's raw talent was obvious last season, but his development has been rapid over the last six months alone and he's now having a decisive impact on games on a consistent basis. 

After a brace at the Estadi Montilivi courtesy of two excellent finishes, Yamal is already on three goals and four assists in five competitive outings this term. No player in La Liga has more goal contributions than the 17-year-old. 

The introduction of Dani Olmo has also been significant with Barça's level noticeably increasing since he came on at Half Time on matchday three away to Rayo Vallecano. The Spain international has scored in all three of his appearances for the club to date, but frustratingly for him, Olmo has picked up an injury which will rule him out for the next month. 

That's a boost for Monaco heading into this game as they bid to become the first team to stop Flick's side in a competitive setting this term. 

Les Rouge et Blanc were last in the Champions League group stage back in the 2018/19 season when they were eliminated with just one point. They did reach the semi-finals two years prior to that though, with an exciting young team that featured the likes of Bernardo Silva and Kylian Mbappé. 

While that group of players has long since disbanded, Monaco are clearly on the up again under current manager Adi Hütter. They won 59% of their league games last term, finishing 2nd only to PSG in the French top flight with the likes of Aleksandr Golovin, Wissam Ben Yedder, Takumi Minamino and Youssouf Fofana enjoying strong seasons. 

While Ben Yedder and Fofana have both since departed, Monaco went pretty big in the summer, with around €75m spent, mostly on young talents such as Lamine Camara, Christian Mawissa and George Ilenikhena. 

The early signs are that they've recruited wisely. The side from the principality have taken 10 points from their opening four league fixtures. They come into this game after an impressive 3-0 win at Auxerre on Saturday with Thilo Kehrer, Vanderson and Denis Zakaria on the scoresheet. 

Team News: 

The home team had a doubt over Camara, with the young midfielder sustaining a neck injury in their weekend game. Fortunately, after a series of tests, there doesn't look to be any serious damage and he could feature in this game. 

Monaco should be at full strength for the match, with the exception of the injured Edan Diop who is still recovering from a stress fracture sustained in training last month. Back-up goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki is also out injured. 

As for the visitors, after two excellent displays in La Liga, Flick will want to keep changes to a minimum. The German may make just one alteration from the side that won the Catalan derby at the weekend, as a result of the injury to Olmo. 

Ferrán Torres, who came off the bench only to be sent off late in that game, could start, with Raphinha potentially shifting across into a more central position. Alternatively, Flick could opt to move Pedri into Olmo's role and use Eric García as a holding midfielder. 

Monaco vs Barcelona Odds

Barcelona are priced at 8/11 to extend their perfect start to the season with a win. Unbeaten Monaco are 100/30 to kick off their Champions League campaign with three points, while the Draw is available at 3/1. 

After two big wins, you can double down on the visitors to dominate this game and back Barça with a -1.00 Handicap at 15/8 while Barcelona and Over 2.5 Goals is priced at 11/8. 

If you see the hosts competing, odds of 7/4 for Monaco or Draw and Yes in the Double Chance and BTTS market may appeal. You can also get odds of 13/8 for Monaco to score Over 1.5 Goals in the match. 

Robert Lewandowski is the Even money favourite to score anytime. You can also back the Polish international to score first at 7/2 while in-form Raphinha looks good at 9/5 to score anytime. 

From a Monaco perspective, former Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun is available at 23/10 to score anytime, while Swiss striker Breel Embolo is priced at 12/5 to get on the scoresheet. 

*You can check out all of the Football Odds we offer over at betfred.com

Bet 1 - Over 2.5 Goals & Both teams to score @ 8/11 

Barcelona's intention under Flick is clearly to play on the front foot and they've been excellent going forwards with Lewandowski, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal all starting the season well. 

On Current form, there should certainly be goals in this for the visitors, but they have conceded in four of their five league matches to date and this may prove their toughest assignment of the campaign so far against a talented, young Monaco side who scored three times against them in pre-season. 

I expect this to be a very watchable match and I'm using the Bet Builder to back Over 2.5 Goals and Both teams to score at 8/11. 

Bet 2 - Lamine Yamal to score anytime @ 23/10 

Perhaps largely because he only scored five times in La Liga last season, Lamine Yamal tends to be higher priced than Barça's other attacking players in the goalscorer markets.  

However, there have already been clear signs this season that he is now much more composed in and around the penalty area. His two weekend goals at Girona were both crisp, cool finishes and right now Yamal looks absolutely fearless, with the ability to do things that few players in the world can do. 

He'll take supreme confidence into this match, and on current form, I think there's value in backing Lamine Yamal to score anytime at 23/10. 

Mark Sochon primarily covers Spanish Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out Mark's Football Betting Tips along with those from the rest of the Betfred Insights Spanish Football writers on our La Liga home page...