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

Having suffered a 1-0 loss when the sides met at this stage of the cup last season, Les Rouge et Noirs will head into the weekend looking to exact revenge against the visitors and maintain their 100% record in 2024.

Match preview

Rennes continued their surge into the top half of the Ligue 1 standings as they picked up a comfortable 2-0 victory over second-placed Nice when the sides met last Saturday.

Benjamin Bourigeaud converted his 31st-minute penalty to set the home side on their way before Arnaud Kalimuendo struck in the 54th minute to make sure of the result and hand the visitors their third Ligue 1 defeat of the season.

Julien Stephan's men have now picked up three wins on the bounce for the first time this season, a run which has seen them rise to 10th in the Ligue 1 table, level on 22 points with 11th-placed Le Havre.

Rennes will look to keep the juggernaut rolling as they turn their attention to the Coupe de France where they kicked off their campaign with a 2-0 victory at Guingamp on January 7 thanks to a brace from Kalimuendo.

Les Rouge et Noirs now go up against a Marseille side who dumped them out of the cup competition last season, when Matteo Guendouzi scored the only goal of the game to hand Les Olympiens a narrow victory.

Marseille were left with their head in their hands last Friday when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Strasbourg at the Orange Velodrome after giving up the lead in the second minute of stoppage time.

After taking the lead inside the opening 180 seconds through Samuel Gigot, the hosts were made to pay for their failure to kill off the game as 20-year-old Jeremy Sebas struck in the 92nd minute to force a share of the spoil.

Prior to that, Marseille kicked off their quest for an 11th Coupe de France title on January 7, when they picked up a nervy 1-0 victory over amateur side Thionville Lusitanos courtesy of a second-half strike from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Gennaro Gattuso's side have now gone four consecutive games without defeat across all competitions, including one win and two draws in three matches in the Ligue 1, where they are currently seventh in the table, one point off the Conference League qualification spot.

Marseille will be backing themselves to return to winning ways this weekend as they take on a Rennes side who have lost each of their last three meetings, conceding four goals and failing to find the target since a 1-1 draw in September 2022.

Rennes Coupe de France form:

W

Rennes form (all competitions):

L

L

D

W

W

W

Marseille Coupe de France form:

W

Marseille form (all competitions):

W

L

W

D

W

D

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Team News

Rennes have to do without the services of 22-year-old defender Christopher Wooh, who is currently on international duty with Cameroon at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations.

On the injury front, this weekend's hosts will take to the pitch without veteran midfielder Nemanja Matic, who is set to sit out his fourth consecutive game through a muscle problem.

He is joined on the Les Rouge et Noirs' injury table by French defender Lorenz Assignon, who has been sidelined since suffering a leg injury against Toulouse back in December.

Marseille will be without a plethora of key players on Sunday as the likes of Simon Ngapandouetnbu (Cameroon), Chancel Mbemba (Congo DR), Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco), Amine Harit (Morocco), Iliman Ndiaye (Senegal), Ismaila Sarr (Senegal) and Pape Gueye (Senegal) are all away at the ongoing AFCON.

Argentine forward Joaquin Correa has been out of action since coming off with an ankle injury against Ajax back in November and is also out of contention for the visitors.

The attacking duo of Valentin Rongier and Spanish forward Pedro Ruiz are currently recuperating from muscle and knee injuries respectively and will play no part in Sunday's game.

Rennes possible starting lineup:

Mandanda; Doue, Omari, Theate, Truffert; Santamaria, Le Fee; Bourigeaud, Doue, Terrier; Kalimuendo

Marseille possible starting lineup:

Lopez; Meite, Gigot, Balerdi; Clauss, Nadir, Kondogbia, Veretout, Murillo; Aubameyang, Oliveira

We say: Rennes 2-1 Marseille

Marseille have struggled to impose themselves away from home this season, and given the number of missing key players down the spine of the team, we are tipping Rennes to come away with the desired results this weekend.

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