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

Pascal Gastien's side sit 11 points adrift of the final European qualification position, while Rennes are in the mix to mingle with the best European football has to offer next season.

Match preview

Concluding the 2021-22 Ligue 1 campaign with their top-flight status still intact by the skins of their teeth, Clermont Foot have made notable improvements in the last four months.

On the back of only nine wins throughout last season's disheartening campaign, Gastien's side have already registered two-thirds of those victories in fewer than half of the time this season.

With only a solitary victory across their last five league matches, The Lancers recorded their first win since mid-October when Muhammed Cham came off the bench to net the late winner at French football powerhouse Lyon on New Year's Day.

However, things did not go to plan six days later as Gastien's side were eliminated from the Coupe de France in the wake of an unforeseen penalty-shootout defeat to non-league outfit Strasbourg Koenigshoffen.

Hoping to bounce back at the first time of asking, three points against one of the in-form sides in the division could reignite aspirations of a maiden appearance in a UEFA-organised competition in the club's 112-year history.

Unlike Clermont, Rennes booked their place in the next round of the French Cup after a hard-fought victory over 10-man Bordeaux on Saturday.

Despite only collecting two victories upon their expeditions across Ligue 1 this season, Bruno Genesio's side are still a force to be reckoned with, as only defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Marseille stand above The Red and Blacks in the standings.

Previous to their weekend victory, Rennes were victorious against Nice on January 2 courtesy of Benjamin Bourigeaud's strike late in the game.

Following a double-digit number of maximum hauls across their 17 league matches throughout a morale-boosting campaign, The Red and Blacks will feel a sixth successive season of European engagements is firmly within their grasp.

Clermont Ligue 1 form:

L

D

D

L

L

W

Rennes Ligue 1 form:

W

W

D

W

L

W

Rennes form (all competitions):

D

W

W

W

L

W

Team News

With no Clermont players currently in the top 20 of the leading goalscorers in Ligue 1, manager Pascal Gastien will hope that Serbian striker Komnen Andric can build on his impressive first start of the current league campaign on New Year's Day.

After coming off the substitutes' bench to score the late winner against Lyon, Muhammed Cham could replace Elbasan Rashani in The Lancers' starting XI.

Rennes suffered a significant blow in their victory against Nice, with talismanic striker Martin Terrier now ruled out for the rest of the campaign after sustaining a cruciate ligament rupture to his right patella after 36 minutes.

With The Red and Blacks now without their top scorer for the foreseeable future, manager Bruno Genesio will rely on Arnaud Kalimuendo and Amine Gouiri to fire the visitors to victory in the final third whilst a potential replacement is found in this month's transfer window.

Following on from naming a strong lineup against Bordeaux in the Coupe de France, it is unlikely that Genesio will want to make many alterations to his European qualification-aspiring side for the midweek visit to Clermont-Ferrand.

Clermont possible starting lineup:

Diaw; Seidu, Wieteska, Ogier; Allevinah, Gastien, Magnin, Borges; Khaoui, Cham, Andric

Rennes possible starting lineup:

Mandanda; Traore, Wooh, Theate, Meling; Bourigeaud, Xeka, Tait, Majer; Gouiri, Kalimuendo

We say: Clermont 1-2 Rennes

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