Rennes vs Marseille
Roazhon Park, Rennes
Friday, 10-09-2020 @10:45pm
Ref: Benoit Mellot
Rennes are sweating over the fitness of playmaker Clement Grenier who will be subjected to a late fitness test. They will also be without Jakob Johansson, Jonas Martin, Metehan Gaclu and Jeremi Gelin.
For Marseille, they continue with life without Florian Thauvin who is yet to feature this season. He is joined on the sidelines by defender Hiroki Sakai who is suspended for the encounter. Morgan Sanson is a slight doubt for the visitors.
Rennes have won each of their last seven home matches with 13 goals scored in this time. Marseille are also in great form and currently sit second but have recently lost big away clashes at PSG (4-0) and Monaco (2-1). Rennes have won seven of their last eight games in all competitions.
Julien Stéphan’s men showed a bit of rustiness last week as they only managed to beat Amiens on penalties in the Coupe de France. This was quite the contrast from their strong end to 2019; nevertheless they’ll be hoping to show their true quality here as they return to league action.
Including the penalty victory over Amiens, Rennes have won seven of their last eight matches with some incredible results coming against the likes of Lazio (2-0), Saint-Étienne (2-1) and Lyon (1-0). They have kept five clean sheets in this time and have conceded the third-least chances in Ligue 1 since the start of this run.
Stéphan’s men have been particularly impressive at home with them winning each of their last seven games at Roazhon Park in all competitions.
They’ve scored 13 goals in this time and have created the third-most chances in the league since this run of home wins started, so they’ll be confident in facing Marseille despite their opponents’ pedigree.
The visitors also enter this match in incredible form, though, with eight wins and a draw in their last nine matches.
André Villas-Boas’ men may have only scraped past lower league Trélissac in the cup last week but they have been incredible overall, with 18 goals scored and seven conceded in this time; they currently sit second for a reason.
Les Olympiens’ away form has been slightly above average in recent weeks but they have struggled in the cauldrons of the league’s bigger teams. Despite confident performances against Toulouse (2-0) and Angers (2-0), they really looked like a poor team as they were thrashed 4-0 in Paris.
Obviously PSG are a class side but Villas-Boas’ men should have really threatened more in Le Classique given their form.
They also lost 2-1 away to a very poor Monaco side which makes us doubt their chances going into this one.
The Ligue One upcoming fixtures
Saturday, 11-01-2020
-Bordeaux vs Lyon @7:30pm
-Toulouse vs Brest @10pm
-Amiens vs Montpellier @10pm
-Angers vs Nice @10pm
-Nimes vs Reims @10pm
-Metz vs Strasbourg @10pm
Sunday, 12-01-2020
-Saint Etienne vs Nantes @5pm
-Dijon vs Lille @7pm
-PSG vs Monaco @11pm