Lorient vs Rennes prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-10-21 11:00.
Sunday’s Ligue 1 action gets underway with a battle of Brittany as Lorient welcome Rennes to the Stade du Moustoir. Lorient have endured a rotten start to the league season (W1, D4, L3) and may well be up against it in what will likely be another fight for survival in their fourth season back in Ligue 1. Perhaps boosting confidence for a much-craved home win here is Lorient’s fantastic four league game-winning record against fellow Brittany-based opponents.
That streak includes a pair of wins over Rennes last season, although not since 2002 have Lorient secured three successive victories against their opponents. Matching that run here may be difficult for a team with a leaky defence that’s conceded a league-high, and a club-record, 18 goals after eight rounds. Unsurprisingly, that includes a run of seven straight league games without a clean sheet, the longest ongoing run in the division.
Although Rennes sit just one win and four points above their rivals, a tight mid-table means that accounts for a whopping eight league positions ahead of the round. Winning just two of their opening eight league games (W2, D5, L1) is not an ideal return for a side who have finished in the top six for four consecutive campaigns and this is interestingly their lowest win return at this stage across the last five years.
There is just one defeat within that run, yet having already accumulated five draws after eight rounds which is a new club record, turning those into wins will be high on the agenda as Rennes aim to kick-start their campaign. All three of their road trips in league action so far have ended in stalemates, with two total goals produced across those games representing the lowest return in the league by some distance.
Players to watch: Lorient’s 17-year-old starlet Eli Junior Kroupi had hit an incredible four goal contributions across his last four club games (G3, A1), before impressing with another goal for France U18s during the break! Trying to outdo him will be Rennes veteran Benjamin Bourigeaud, the man who has made a goal contribution in all three of his side’s competitive wins this season (G1, A2).
Hot stat: Rennes have failed to win eight of their last 12 away league games as pre-match favourites (W4, D4, L4).