Rennes vs Lens prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-03-31 19:00.
Manager Bruno Génésio is challenging his Rennes side to be more consistent as they look to build on their stunning 2-0 win over PSG before the international break. The Red and Blacks have only registered back-to-back Ligue 1 wins once since October, and despite the boss describing himself as “very satisfied” with how they played at the Parc des Princes, he admits “we must be able to show that in 90% of matches” to qualify for European football.
Rennes have now won three of their last five league matches (D1, L1), leaving them in fifth place. However, recent home defeats to Lille and Marseille have dented their ambitions of reaching the UEFA Champions League (UCL), so supporters will be hoping their side can bounce back to the form which saw them register ten successive Ligue 1 victories at Roazhon Park earlier this season.
Visitors Lens are also targeting a place in the UCL, whose manager Franck Haise has made “bringing the club back to the European Cup” for the first time in two decades his top priority. The Blood and Gold currently sit third in the table, seven points above Rennes, and have been remarkably consistent throughout the campaign, losing just three times in 28 outings (W16, D9).
Their away form has been an Achilles' heel though, as they have registered just four league wins on the road all season, including only one in their last seven outings (D5, L1). That doesn’t bode well for their trip west to Roazhon Park, where they have lost on ten of their last 15 Ligue 1 visits (W2, D3), conceding at least two goals in eight of those defeats.
Key battle: Karl Toko Ekambi, who netted in Rennes’ win over PSG, has managed just one victory in his previous five clashes with Lens (D3, L1). He will be looking to out-score opposition striker Loïs Openda, who has bagged five goals in his last two games and is now unbeaten in the 14 club matches in which he has netted (W11, D3) since March 2022.
Hot stat: Rennes have conceded just two goals during the first half of their home league matches this season, the lowest total in Ligue 1.