Rennesvs.Nantes

Antoine Kombouare was not pleased that Nantes' game against Paris Saint-Germain was postponed last weekend, while Rennes continued their rise up the table following a crushing victory over one of the Canaries' relegation rivals.

Match preview

Rennes' most impressive display of the season so far saw them thrash Le Havre 5-1 last weekend, moving them eight points clear of the drop zone, and within sight of the top half.

A 5-0 win over Saint-Etienne in November was another notable display, but last week's success came on the road, and against 11 men, as Habib Beye's men blew Didier Digard's men away, leading 3-0 inside 15 minutes.

Since Beye's arrival, and the mass spending at the end of the January transfer window, Rennes have won six in 10, and the gap to Lens in the top half has been cut to just seven points with five games to play, when relegation was still a fear as recently as last month.

Rennes start the weekend in 11th, having not finished lower than 10th in 11 years, so the squad still has that to encourage them to push on until the end of the season, hoping to avoid making unwanted history.

It will be tough though, because Rennes still have Lyon, Nice and Marseille to play in their final five, making this home clash with Nantes even more important, and the hosts enter the meeting having won six in a row against their upcoming opponents at Roazhon Park.

Nantes' last win here came back in 2013, but they did claim victory in the reverse fixture in December, which came during the dismal spell of Jorge Sampaoli at Rennes.

Kombouare's men have not been in action for two weeks because of the controversial decision to postpone their clash with PSG last week so the recently-crowned champions could focus on their clash with Aston Villa in the Champions League.

Nantes were hopeful that PSG would have rotated heavily, perhaps giving them an outside chance of a result, but that fixture will now be played on Tuesday instead, with the Parisians focused on domestic matters again for the time being.

What made matters worse for the Canaries, is that Reims and Angers both won last weekend, closing the gap on them just below, but Rennes did do them a favour by thumping Le Havre, who remain in the relegation playoff spot and three points behind Nantes.

On paper, Nantes should fancy their chances of avoiding the drop, because apart from the clash with PSG, their other five remaining matches are all against teams currently in the bottom half, including the season finale against bottom-of-the-table Montpellier.

Nantes' last outing was on a Friday night away to Nice, and that ended in a surprise victory, so Kombouare will hope his side can repeat the feat as underdogs once more, as a win would briefly move them six points clear of trouble.

Rennes Ligue 1 form:

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Nantes Ligue 1 form:

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Team News

Rennes will be without important first-team players Ludovic Blas and Alidu Seidu with injury here, but their significant spending in the winter window means they have a squad capable of coping with setbacks.

Despite many new faces coming in, Arnaud Kalimuendo has retained his place in the side, and his performances are only getting better, with three goals and three assists in three games since returning from international duty with France Under-21s, where he scored a brace against Slovakia.

Nantes will have Jean-Charles Castelletto back from suspension after he missed the games with Le Havre and Nice following a dismissal against Lille.

The visitors are without two important midfielders though, as Francis Coquelin and Pedro Chirivella are currently sidelined, while there is still no sign of a return for Alban Lafont or Fabien Centonze.

Moses Simon will be the man to watch for the away side, having contributed to three goals in his last three games, and the Nigerian also scored the winner in the reverse fixture at the end of 2024.

Rennes possible starting lineup:

Samba; Jacquet, Rouault, Brassier; Assignon, Cisse, Matusiwa, Truffert; Kalimuendo, Tamari, Fofana

Nantes possible starting lineup:

Lopes; Amian, Castelletto, Pallois, Cozza; Lepenant, Douglas Augusto, Leroux; Abline, Mohamed, Simon

We say: Rennes 2-0 Nantes

Huge spending in January, as well as the impact of Beye arriving as manager, has moved Rennes up the table, and they have the quality on paper to claim another victory against a Nantes side still battling near the bottom.

Written by

Andrew Delaney

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