Rennes vs Lyon prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2024-08-17 18:45.
[p]After their joint-lowest Ligue 1 finish for a decade last season, Rennes have splashed the cash this summer as they look to avoid a repeat of 2023/24, when they came tenth. Highly-rated Denmark U21 international Albert Grønbaek and Welsh midfielder Jordan James are among the players to join the Red and Blacks over the past few months, who can now focus solely on domestic success after missing out on continental football for the first time in seven years. [/p]
[p]A further summer arrival, Hans Hateboer – himself a UEFA Europa League winner with Atalanta in May – believes qualifying for Europe has to be the club’s “aim” this season. Confidence should be high that they can at least start strongly in that quest, thanks to a solid pre-season campaign, but they’ll have to shape better than how they ended last season, winning just three of their final 12 league games (D3, L6). [/p]
[p]History suggests they might chalk up an opening day success against visitors Lyon too, who have lost four of the last six H2Hs (W2). Like their opponents, Les Gones have been on a spending spree in the off-season, with Nottingham Forest pair Orel Mangala and Moussa Niakhaté among the players to have made the move to the Groupama Stadium in a bid to strengthen Pierre Sage’s overall squad. [/p]
[p]Both players were involved as Lyon rounded off their list of summer friendlies in underwhelming fashion by losing 2-0 to Arsenal in the Emirates Cup. The manager will be demanding an improvement from that performance after revealing he “shook” the players up at half-time and conceded that they were “not up to the task” overall against such a high-quality opponent, but he’ll hope the step down in quality will make this more of an even match.[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Rennes striker Amine Gouiri has netted three times in seven meetings (W3, L4) with former employers Lyon. Les Gones will be looking to Saïd Benrahma for some inspiration, but as he’s failed to score in his last nine league games in the month of August, his input may be muted.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: There have been 4+ goals in five of the last six H2Hs between Rennes and Lyon.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Matt Jones[/i][/p]