Despite holding supposed home advantage at their Stade Matmut-Atlantique, Sunday lunchtime’s hosts, Bordeaux, face a tough looking encounter against a 7th placed Rennes outfit who are still in the running for a possible top five finish.
Bordeaux will be desperate to avoid a sixth league defeat on the trot in Ligue 1 having suffered a five-match losing streak which has resulted in the hosts dropping down to 16th place in the Ligue 1 standings and just five points above the relegation zone.
These recent defeats against Montpellier, Strasbourg, Saint-Etienne, Monaco and Lorient have resulted in Bordeaux shipping a total of 17 goals whilst scoring just 5 in reply while the bigger picture shows that the hosts have now lost 11 of their last 13 matches overall in the French top flight.
Bordeaux’s dramatic slump is in stark contrast to their promising start to the Ligue 1 campaign which saw the hosts unbeaten in their opening five matches at home but they’ve since imploded, losing seven of their last 10 games at their Stade Matmut-Atlantique.
Rennes, by contrast, bring an impressive six-match unbeaten sequence into this lunchtime clash on Sunday which consists of five wins and one draw as the visitors have taken a total of 16 points from the possible 18 on offer.
Victories achieved against Strasbourg, Metz, Nantes, Angers and Dijon, the latter a 5-1 thrashing at their Roazhon Park, have helped Rennes maintain their push for a possible top five finish and they continue to hover in 7th place but just two points behind 5th placed Lens.
Stade Rennais had earlier had to endure a tough run of results from towards the end of January through to mid-March which saw the visitors go without a win in Ligue 1 for eight games, losing six of these.
However, Rennes have turned their form around at just the right time and they’ll head to Bordeaux in confident mood having won two of their last three matches on their travels and losing just three of their previous 12 on the road.
In addition, Rennes have kept six clean sheets away from home so far this season and they’ve lost just one of the previous eight meetings against their hosts, Bordeaux, and the visitors look set to get something out of this encounter as well.