Monaco will welcome Shakhtar Donetsk to the Stade Louis II in the first leg of the Champions League playoff round on Tuesday. The kick-off is at 21:00 CEST.

Preview

Even though Monaco made it to this term's CL playoff round by defeating Sparta Prague 5-1 on aggregate, Niko Kovac's men have only claimed one point in their opening two matchdays in the Ligue 1. First, the Monegasques shared points with Nantes (1-1) on the 2021/22 opening day two weeks ago. Then, Kovac's crop were sensationally beaten by Lorient 1-0 on Friday so they'll definitely be eager to bounce back from that result on Tuesday.

Shakhtar, in turn, progressed to this round of the competition by destroying Genk 4-2 on aggregate in the third qualifying round. As for their run in the Ukrainian top flight, Roberto De Zerbi's side have registered three wins and one loss this season so far, including the most recent 2-0 victory over Metalist 1925 on Friday.

Team news

Benoit Badiashile is the only confirmed injury absentee in the hosts' set-up while it remains to be seen if Pedrinho helps the visiting team in France due to a shoulder problem.

Prediction

Monaco's performances against Sparta in their two-legged tie in the previous round could've made them the hot favourites to reach the Champions League group stage at the expense of the Ukrainian giants. The Monegasques' woeful form in the domestic league, however, has put some question marks over their chances against Shakhtar. Thus, we'd say that De Zerbi's men will find the back of net at least once at the Stade Louis II while it's also hard to envisage the hosts ending Tuesday's clash goalless.

Tip

Both teams to score at 1.8 with 1XBET.