Preview: Strasbourg vs. Rennes - prediction, team news, lineups

After a fantastic showing last season, which saw Strasbourg miss out on Europe only because of Nantes' Coupe de France success, the Alsace club find themselves in the relegation zone after eight matches.

Match preview

What is most alarming about Strasbourg's difficult start is that Julien Stephan's side, apart from an opening-day defeat to Monaco, have not faced any of the powerhouses in French football yet this season.

Losing to Auxerre, and failing to beat any of Reims, Nantes, Brest or Clermont, all sides who are down near the relegation places with them, is concerning, and their next opponents Rennes should provide an even sterner test.

The stakes are even higher in Ligue 1 this season too regarding relegation, as the plans to turn the division into an 18-team league next season means four sides will drop into Ligue 2 next season.

Unsurprisingly, Strasbourg currently occupy one of these positions, having picked up just five points from eight matches so far, all of which were draws.

A 94th-minute penalty from Teji Savanier denied them a sixth draw in their last outing too, away at Montpellier before the international break, as they went down 2-1.

Only four sides have conceded fewer goals than Strasbourg in Ligue 1 so far, but they look a long way away from the side that fired in 60 league goals last season, as only Nice and bottom-placed Ajaccio have scored fewer this term.

Attacking trio Kevin Gameiro, Habib Diallo and Ludovic Ajorque combined for 34 goals domestically last season, but have just five between them up to now, and a lack of goals from other areas of the pitch are hurting the side too.

After spending handsomely in the summer transfer window, pressure may build on Rennes boss Bruno Genesio too if their inconsistent form does not improve.

Despite spending over £60m in the summer, they have won just three league matches this season, all against sides in the bottom five, as well as losing in important matches against sides challenging them for European places, Lens and Lorient.

They are also prone to throwing away leads, having dropped points already from winning positions against the 10 men of Monaco on matchday two, and last time out against Marseille before the international break.

This naivety can be linked to the very young nature of the team, with the average age of the squad being under 24, and they are feeling the effects of losing key defender Nayef Aguerd to West Ham United over the summer.

However, playmaker Lovro Majer has returned following an excellent break with Croatia, in which he scored a fantastic winner against Denmark, and set up the clinching goal in a 3-1 win in Austria, with Genesio hoping that can kick-start his season which has yet to reach the heights of last term.

Strasbourg Ligue 1 form:

D

L

D

D

D

L

Rennes Ligue 1 form:

W

L

W

D

W

D

Rennes form (all competitions):

W

D

W

W

D

D

Team News

Strasbourg already had an eye-watering amount of injury absentees to deal with coming into this one, but defender Alexander Djiku picked up a knock while away playing for Ghana and is now doubtful.

Djiku joins centre-back partner Gerzino Nyamsi on the absentee list, along with a number of their wing-backs, as Colin Dagba, Thomas Delaine and Karol Fila are all expected to remain on the sidelines.

They do have a couple of important players returning though, as Maxime Le Marchand and Sanjin Prcic will return from suspensions, and goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima is back to keep current number one Matz Sels on his toes for a starting spot.

Two of their star attacking assets from last season look set to miss out though, with Ajorque and Adrien Thomasson unlikely to be back for another couple of weeks.

Rennes had a long list of players away on international duty, but players like Steve Mandanda, Hamari Traore and Arthur Theate were barely used by their respective nations.

Left-back Adrien Truffert was also away, but featured for just 25 minutes for France, in what was his senior international debut.

Attacking duo Amine Gouiri and Desire Doue featured for respective French youth sides, and both found the net, but 17-year-old Doue will likely be replaced by Majer for the trip to Alsace.

Jeremy Doku made two substitute appearances before the internationals on his return from a short-term injury, and then featured twice for Belgium's Under-21s last week, so he is in contention to return to the starting lineup, likely in place of Chimuanya Ugochukwu.

Youthful attackers Arnaud Kalimuendo and Kamaldeen Sulemana will most likely start on the bench for this one, before being given a start in the Europa League clash with Dynamo Kyiv in midweek.

Baptiste Santamaria and new signing Xeka will both be absent for Rennes through injury.

Strasbourg possible starting lineup:

Sels; Doukoure, Perrin, Le Marchand; Pierre-Gabriel, Bellegarde, Diarra, Aholou, Lienard; Gameiro, Diallo

Rennes possible starting lineup:

Mandanda; Traore, Rodon, Theate, Truffert; Tait, Bourigeaud, Doku, Majer, Terrier; Gouiri

We say: Strasbourg 0-1 Rennes

All of Strasbourg's matches this season have seen three goals or fewer, plus they have rarely looked much of an attacking threat.

Without Ajorque and Thomasson, this will have an even greater adverse effect on the team, while Rennes are welcoming back players like Doku, who can be a real difference-maker.

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