Lille’s title defending reigns takes another uphill task this week when they travel to high-flying Rennes in Ligue 1 this week. The match schedules for Thursday at the Roazhon Park, with kickoff at 11 pm.
Rennes and Lille meet for the fifth time in the league this season. Lille had won on their previous four meetings before Rennes beat them 2-0 two weeks ago.
A draw at the weekend saw Lille drop into the bottom half of the table, while a win saw Rennes make it back to second place.
Having gradually built up their momentum as the season has progressed, Rennes coach Philippe Montanier now has a squad coming to terms with his favored attacking style and regularly producing the goods.
Rennes have begun the season in sensational form, winning eight out of their 11 competitive games so far this season.
Aside from a brief flip in mid-September, where they suffered back-to-back 2-0 defeats against Reims and Marseille, Rennes has consistently produced the goods in both Ligue 1 and the Europa Conference League.
With seven games to play in barely three weeks, when will Lille get a break from football?
Amid a run of bad form in all competitions, which has produced only one win in their last eight outings, they now face a daunting string of six fixtures over a period measuring little more than a month.
Rennes vs Lille Head to Head
Both sides have 38 games against each other, with hosts taking ten wins while opponents with 15 wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Lorient 0-2 Rennes
- Rennes 3-3 Vitesse
- Rennes 2-0 Montpellier
- Lyon 1-4 Rennes
- Rennes 1-0 NS Mura
Away
- Lille 1-1 Nantes
- Lille 1-0 RB Salzburg
- Monaco 2-2 Lille
- Lille 1-1 Angers
- Sevilla 1-2 Lille
Rennes Team News
Jeremy Gelin looks likely to miss Rennes’ return to Ligue 1 action on Wednesday, with the midfielder struggling for fitness.
After scoring twice last weekend, Doku came off the bench this season against Lorient. It appears the Nigerian has fully recovered from his hamstring injury and should be ready to start Wednesday night.
Lille Team News
Lille will be without the services of Gabriel Gudmundsson (muscle) and Leo Jardim (neck), who are both definitely unavailable for Wednesday’s Ligue 1 match.
Prediction and Odds
Even though things point to a comfortable home win, we expect the opponents to turn up.
- Draw
- Double Chance
- Both Teams to Score
