Sports Mole previews Sunday's Ligue 1 clash between Rennes and Lyon, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Seeking to win their first four Ligue 1 matches for the first time this century, Lyon will travel to Roazhon Park on Sunday for a date with Rennes.
The club from Brittany claimed a fourth point this season thanks to a 1-1 draw at Angers the last time out, while OL maintained their 100% record by defeating Marseille 1-0.
Match preview
After a solid opening match to the new campaign, Stade Rennais have struggled, dropping points in back-to-back league contests.
Habib Beye's men were fortunate to allow only one against Angers, with the latter registering seven efforts on target despite only having 36% of the possession.
Dating back to last season, this side have won their last three Ligue 1 affairs at Roazhon Park, conceding just a single goal over that stretch.
Another victory this weekend would mark the first time they have won at least four successive home contests in Ligue 1 since August-September 2023, when they collected five straight triumphs in Brittany.
Two of the last three times that they scored first, this team failed to hang on, including in their previous away match versus Angers, while losing 4-2 to Marseille on the final matchday of last season.
Les Rennais have won three of their last four home games against Lyon, netting three or more goals in each of those triumphs, including a 3-0 victory in this exact fixture last season.
Given everything that transpired with them a season ago, the opening three matches of the new campaign have to feel like a dream for Olympique Lyonnais.
Initially relegated due to financial issues that forced them to sell off their share of players, the seven-time Ligue 1 champions have overcome a lot to get to where they are now.
Under Jorge Maciel, who is filling in for the suspended Paulo Fonseca, this team have yet to concede a single goal and on Sunday can claim four consecutive clean sheets in the top flight for the second time in club history ( 2008-09).
A victory this weekend would not only equal their best start to a Ligue 1 campaign since 1981-82 (four wins) but it would also match their longest winning run away from home in the competition from last season (two).
Lyon have won their last four league matches when leading at the half, failing to suffer a single defeat in that position so far this season.
Les Gones have only beaten Rennes at Roazhon Park once this decade, holding them off the scoresheet in a 1-0 triumph back in 2022.
Rennes Ligue 1 form:
W
L
D
Lyon Ligue 1 form:
W
W
W
Team News
In their previous match, Rennes were missing Djaoui Cisse who had a sore foot, while Mahdi Camara and Abdelhamid Ait Boudhlal were out with red card suspensions, though the latter is eligible to return on Sunday.
Esteban Lepaul opened the scoring for them in that fixture, the first for the Auxerre-born striker since joining them from Angers in the summer transfer window.
Cruciate ligament issues kept Orel Mangala and Ernest Nuamah out of the Lyon lineup versus Marseille, while Moussa Niakhate had a knee injury.
Pavel Sulc scored three minutes from the end of their previous match, his first of the competition since joining them in August, while Remy Descamps made two stops for his league-leading third clean sheet of the campaign.
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Samba; Rouault, Jacquet, Brassier; Frankowski, Blas, Rongier, S. Fofana, Merlin; Embolo, Lepaul
Lyon possible starting lineup:
Descamps; Maitland-Niles, Mata, Niakhate, Abner; Tessman, Morton; Sulc, Merah, M. Fofana; Tolisso
We say: Rennes 1-1 Lyon
Rennes are a much more structured team at home, and we expect them to be a lot more compact against a Lyon side that have developed cohesiveness but are not always as sharp in the attacking third.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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