what's the correct preposition?

[English4everyone]

Can we use 'compete' like this in the following sentence? And which preposition is correct?
They are trying to discover something to compete with / against the side effects of X.

 

[bhaisahab]

Can we use 'compete' like this in the following sentence? And which preposition is correct?
They are trying to discover something to compete with / against the side effects of X.

"Compete" doesn't work, "combat" would be better. With "combat" no preposition is required.

 

[SoothingDave]

Or "counteract" or "lessen" or "mitigate."