Despite failing to win any of their last five matches overall in the French top flight, Friday evening’s hosts, Rennes, are expected to bounce back with a win when they play host to lowly Nice at their Roazhon Park ground which would actually lift the hosts up into the top five of Ligue 1.
Recent defeats to Lille, Saint-Etienne and Montpellier haven’t been ideal but Rennes are still within striking distance of the top five and although the hosts are also without a win in their last four matches at home, they’re perhaps the more likely out of these two teams to seal the three points.
Admittedly, Rennes have produced some inconsistent displays on home turf at their Roazhon Park, winning five, drawing three and losing five but they did earn a narrow 1-0 win away from home in the last meeting against Nice at the Allianz Riviera back in mid-December of last year.
Defender, Da Silva, had to be replaced by Nyamsi due to injury in the weekend 2-1 defeat to Montpellier and may not figure in this clash against Nice, while forward Terrier is also a doubt after hobbling off in the second half. Midfielder Tait is still ruled out with an ankle injury.
Nice dropped down to 16th place on the Ligue 1 ladder after they too stumbled to a 2-1 defeat on the weekend as they slumped to a 2-1 loss at home to Metz which became Nice’s third league defeat on the trot.
Indeed, Nice have lost five of their last six matches overall in Ligue 1 which includes previous losses to Saint-Etienne, Monaco, PSG and Marseille, and the visitors have managed to pick up just two wins out of their last 12 matches.
The bigger picture shows that Nice have collected just three wins from the last 17 matches while results away from home have also suffered in recent times as Nice have lost their last three away matches on the trot.
After watching his side slump to a third defeat on the trot, Nice manager, Adrian Ursea, may well be ringing the changes, while he’s also likely to be without the services of forwards Dolberg, Roni Lopes along with defenders Dante and Atal through injury.
Rennes may therefore hold the edge over a struggling Nice outfit who have various injuries to contend with.