Liverpool vs AS Monaco
You could hardly have more contrasting cities coming together for a Club Friendly football match, between the rainy and gritty Merseyside capital and the principality on the French Riviera. But Liverpool and Monaco are both European royalty, and on Sunday, they will get together for a fascinating clash at Anfield.
The new Premier League campaign is just two weeks away now and the Reds, managed by Andoni Iraola, have a tasty opener away to Newcastle United. Meanwhile, Monaco will open their Ligue 1 account away to Le Havre on the same day.
Both teams are hoping for a better campaign this year. Liverpool made a limp defence of their 2024-25 title last term, finishing fifth and never joining the race, while Monaco finished seventh, though the latest SBOTOP Club Friendly 2026 betting odds make Filipe Luis’ side the third favourites this season behind only PSG and Marseille.
This will be a good test for the Reds and a very useful workout for Les Rouges et Blancs, so let’s take a look at the latest news from the two camps.
Talking Points
Reds waiting on Jacquet
So far in pre-season, Liverpool have beaten Sunderland and Wrexham, but then they suffered a 4-2 reversal to Leeds United last time out, and they will be keen to get back on track when they return to Anfield on Sunday.
Andoni has got his feet under the table, and the Reds bolstered their defence early in the transfer window with the signing of Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet. And while it made big Club Friendly 2026 news at the time, the 21-year-old French star is yet to cross the white line in a Liverpool shirt.
After spending a season on loan at Clermont Foot, Jacquet returned to his parent club Rennes last term and impressed as a cultured centre-back. But he missed much of the second half of the Ligue 1 campaign with a shoulder injury, and he is yet to begin training with the Reds’ first team.
He is one of three central defenders unavailable to Andoni, with Joe Gomez suffering an injury in a US pre-season match and 19-year-old Giovanni Leoni also out of contention. With just two weeks before the Premier League starts, Andoni is looking for a partner for Virgil van Dijk, and in the meantime, it will likely be Ifeanyi Ndukwe who gets the nod against Monaco.
Andoni will want to see a better showing from a defence which shipped four goals against Leeds, and they are also missing long-term defensive leader Andrew Robertson, who has transferred to Tottenham Hotspur, but the manager will not rush Jacquet back.
Monaco begins life after Maghnes
The big news in France this week was the sale of AS Monaco winger Maghnes Akliouche to PSG, and that has left a bit of a hole in Monaco’s creative unit. A talented wide-man with an eye for goal, Akliouche will join a stellar attack at the Parc des Princes, but he will be missed in the south of France, where he spent nine years as an academy player before breaking into the first team and into the French national team.
But life goes on, and in pre-season so far, AS Monaco lost to Sporting Lisbon, drew with Cercle Brugge, and then beat Getafe last time out thanks to a Paris Brunner penalty. And now they will head to Anfield looking for further progress.
The Ligue 1 side has plenty of household names in its ranks. Striker Folarin Balogun was at the centre of a World Cup controversy when he had a red card rescinded after a bizarre intervention from the US President. But he was the Stars and Stripes’ best forward and has 12 international goals in 31 international appearances and 24 from 72 for Monaco. Denis Zakaria captains this side, and he has Ansu Fati, keen to continue his progress up front after scoring 11 goals in 25 games last term.
History
Liverpool are one of Europe’s grander statesmen with 20 English top-flight titles and six Champions League or European Cup triumphs. And then Monaco are one of France’s top clubs as eight-time Ligue 1 winners, the last time in 2017, and they were the Champions League runners-up in 2003-04.
These two clubs have met twice before, way back in 2004 when they each won a home Champions League tie, with Liverpool triumphing 2-0 at Anfield before Monaco won their home fixture, beating the Reds 1-0.
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