Monaco stunned Arsenal in the Champions League last season but Tottenham face a very different proposition in the French principality this evening.
Spurs play at the Stade Louis II just six months after Arsenal were knocked out of Europe on the same ground.
A lot has changed for Monaco in that time and Mauricio Pochettino knows his side have a good opportunity to make it two wins from two in the Europa League.
Monaco are in transition after selling the spine of their team that reached the Champions League quarter-finals.
Anthony Martial headed a number of big-money departures when he moved to Manchester United for an initial £36million with Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Layvin Kurzawa and Aymen Abdennour also leaving. Those sales raised £117m — although that figure is likely to rise because United could have to pay another £22m in add-ons for Martial, who was Monaco’s top scorer last season with 12 goals.
Leonardo Jardim had a busy summer replacing those players and made 14 signings, including Stephan El Shaarawy, Adama Traore, Ivan Cavaleiro and Fabio Coentrao. The drastic changes have resulted in a slow start.
Defeat against Valencia saw them eliminated from the Champions League in the final qualifying round and they are mid-table in Ligue 1. A 3-3 draw with Guingamp on Sunday leaves them eight points behind leaders PSG with three wins in eight games.
It means Tottenham should go into the Group J fixture with a degree of confidence given their performances over the last month. Spurs won four of their five matches in September, with their only blip coming against Arsenal in the Capital One Cup.
“It is true Monaco lost some players but we still expect a very tough game,” said Pochettino. “They still have a lot of experienced players and I am sure it will be very difficult.”
The foundation of Monaco’s success last season was a good defensive record but they have been weakened by the sales of defenders Kurzawa and Abdennour. They have already conceded half as many goals in the domestic league this term (13) as they did in 38 games last season (26) and have let in six goals in their last two games.
Monaco drew 1-1 with Anderlecht in their opening group match and Pochettino is eager to maintain Spurs’ momentum.
“It is important for us after our victory against Qarabag to get three more points,” he said.
Spurs will be without Heung-Min Son after Pochettino confirmed the South Korea forward has suffered a foot injury. Son will also miss Sunday’s trip to Swansea but Spurs hope he could return after the international break.
“It is bad news about Son,” added Pochettino. “He was injured against Manchester City.
“We hope it is not a big issue but we need to assess it day by day. Maybe he will be out for a few weeks.”
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Pochettino is reluctant to make too many changes from the side that beat City but Kieran Trippier, Kevin Wimmer, Clinton Njie and Tom Carroll could start.
