Preview: Reims vs. Lorient - prediction, team news, lineups

Will Still's charges were held to a 1-1 draw by Toulouse in their most recent affair, while Les Merlus navigated their way past Rennes 2-1 in front of their home faithful.

Match preview

With the international break not being kind to Reims in terms of injuries, Still's troops arguably entered last weekend's showdown with Toulouse as underdogs, especially with Les Violets proving to be a tough nut to crack at Stadium Municipal.

However, a plethora of midfield absentees for Les Rouges et Blancs offered Amir Richardson the chance to stake his claim for regular minutes, which he did with a deflected opener in the 48th minute, but the 21-year-old's strike was cancelled out by a Thijs Dallinga header moments later.

There could have been few complaints from either manager as both sides deservedly left with a point from a tight affair, but having also been sunk 3-1 by Monaco a few weeks ago, Reims are now playing catch-up to their fellow European hopefuls in sixth place in the table.

Nevertheless, only one point separates Les Rouges et Blancs from Lille in the fourth and final Champions League spot, and while Monaco may be reaping the rewards of Folarin Balogun's acquisition, Reims remain as hot as ever in the final third, scoring in all nine of their Ligue 1 games so far this term.

At the other end of the field, only basement battlers Lyon and Clermont have failed to breach Reims' backline in the 2023-24 season - although both of those clean sheets have come at home for Still's side - and Lorient had an individual defensive disasterclass to thank for their success over Rennes last weekend.

Les Merlus head coach Regis Le Bris had already been subjected to enough rearguard capitulations from his side during the final weeks of summer, as Lorient endured a miserable five-game winless run and conceded 16 goals across those 450 minutes of football before another fortnight's reset.

As Lorient tightened up at the back, the same could not be said for Rennes - or more specifically Warmed Omari - who gifted Lens the lead with a comical own goal before being robbed of the ball in his own penalty area, and Isaak Toure did the rest.

Ludovic Blas did briefly restore parity for Rennes either side of the hosts' two goals, but the Stade du Moustoir was bouncing by full time, as Lorient's snapped their dismal winless sequence and created some daylight between themselves and the automatic relegation places.

Les Merlus - who are entrenched in 12th place - are now five points clear of the two-team demotion zone, but their position remains precarious, as Metz are only two points worse off in the relegation playoff spot, and Le Bris's side still have just the one clean sheet to boast this season, which came in an opening goalless draw versus Paris Saint-Germain.

Coincidentally, PSG are one of only two teams who Lorient have beaten on the road in Ligue 1 in 2023 - the other being a relegated Angers - and Les Merlus have gone four games without victory versus Reims, who came up trumps in a thrilling encounter 4-2 on home soil back in February.

Reims Ligue 1 form:

D

L

W

W

L

D

Lorient Ligue 1 form:

L

D

L

L

D

W

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Team News

Prior to their stalemate with Toulouse, Reims saw all of Teddy Teuma, Azor Matusiwa and Keito Nakamura report to the sick bay with injuries, and the latter's ankle concern is expected to keep him sidelined for another month at least.

Matusiwa's adductor problem - which he sustained in a friendly during the international break - will not heal for a couple more weeks either, while Teuma's ankle sprain is the least serious, but the Malta international is seemingly fighting a losing battle to be fit for Saturday.

As such, Richardson and France Under-19 international Valentin Atangana should form another youthful midfield pairing, with Marshall Munetsi operating just ahead of the inexperienced duo.

Meanwhile, Lorient welcomed left-back Vincent Le Goff to the matchday squad against Rennes following an unspecified injury, but Benjamin Mendy (thigh), Bonke Innocent (groin), Bamba Dieng (groin) and Quentin Boisgard (calf) all sat out that narrow win.

Mendy is understood to be working his way back to full fitness in training and could potentially reappear this weekend, but Lorient head coach Le Bris should see no reason to make significant alterations to his 3-4-3 system on Saturday.

However, attacker Pablo Pagis was a half-time withdrawal against Rennes, so Romain Faivre should be considered for a recall to the first XI.

Reims possible starting lineup:

Diouf; Okumu, Abdelhamid, Agbadou; Foket, Atangana, Richardson, De Smet; Munetsi; Daramy, Ito

Lorient possible starting lineup:

Mvogo; Toure, F. Mendy, Talbi; Kalulu, Abergel, Bakayoko, Yongwa; Faivre, Tosin, Kroupi

We say: Reims 2-1 Lorient

A plethora of fresh injury concerns did not hamper Reims too much during their visit to Toulouse's Stadium Municipal, which is not a happy hunting ground for most teams, and Still's goal-happy troops should be backed to entertain the home crowd here.

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