Ligue 1’s third-place team Rennes host sixth-place Nantes at the Roazhan Park on Friday night to kick off the weekend in the French top flight.
Rennes head into the game having taken four points from their last six. Manager Julien Stephan’s team is playing great football at the moment and are third in the Ligue 1 form table. Rennes have taken 13 points from their last 18 possible.
Nantes have won three of their last six games but three of those six matches did end in losses. Nantes are just one point off of the Champions League places. They could move above Montpellier with a win on Friday night.
The race for the top four is close in Ligue 1 with 10 teams within four points of the final Champions League qualification place.
Rennes are unbeaten in their last six matches versus Nantes at the Roazhan Park. The red and black have been nearly unbeatable against Nantes when playing at home.
Stephan’s team has taken 19 points from 30 possible when playing at home this season. Rennes have scored 15 goals and conceded 11 scores.
Nantes have been good on the road this term picking up 13 of 30 points possible. Goals have been hard to come by, however. The Canaries have scored just nine times away from home. They have conceded 11 goals.
The Canaries did win the previous meeting this season versus Rennes, 1-0. After a scoreless first half, Nantes’ Abdoulaye Toure scored a penalty in the 77th minute of the game. Could we see another late goal at the Roazhan Park?
Nantes do go into the game on the back of consecutive defeats. They lost in the Coupe de France, 4-3, before losing to Bordeaux last weekend 1-0.
Rennes are unbeaten in four straight games in all competitions. They secured back to back draws in the league versus Nice 1-1 and the Coupe de France against Angers, 3-3.
The black and red are unbeaten in 12 of their last 13 games versus Nantes. Until Nantes’ win earlier this season, Rennes had dominated the fixtures between them in all competitions. Playing at home, Rennes should get back to winning ways versus Nantes.
Expect another low-scoring game between the two teams with Rennes winning to nil. Eight of the last 12 matches between Rennes and Nantes finished with under 2.5 goals scored. Expect that trend to continue.