Reims vs Rennes prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2024-08-31 15:00.
[p]After three successive Ligue 1 seasons of achieving finishes higher than the year before, Reims fans would’ve been excited for 2024/25, but it has so far been underwhelming, with their team opening with a 2-0 loss and 2-2 draw against Lille and Marseille respectively. The Red and Whites will be hoping that it’s third time lucky this Sunday against Rennes, but they have proven themselves to be slow starters recently, having failed to win their opening four league games in three of the last four campaigns. [/p]
[p]That record suggests that manager Luka Elsner’s already tough start to life at the Stade Auguste-Delaune won’t get any easier this weekend as he prepares his team to face a Rennes side he’s beaten just once in five personal H2Hs (D1, L3). His new team however will be keen to show they have his back and further improve on their 11 victories in the last 16 home H2Hs (D2, L3), which includes a 2-1 triumph on the final day of last season. [/p]
[p]Rennes will arrive looking to show history is immaterial, but it all depends on their mood after starting the campaign so brightly with a 3-0 home win over Lyon, only to then show their vulnerabilities with a 3-1 away defeat against Strasbourg. Such inconsistency has been expected of them though given their extremely active transfer window, with a flurry of players coming and going. [/p]
[p]It’s up to manager Julien Stéphan to knit all the pieces together, but a trip to Reims might scramble his thinking, since he’s only won one of his nine encounters against them (D4, L4). His priority might first be to develop a solid defensive gameplan, something that’s been lacking during his tenure, with Rennes keeping just five clean sheets in their 19 away matches in that time (W9, D3, L7). [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Reims’ Junya Ito might be the man to get their campaign up and running, and he’ll hope to have either first or last say on proceedings given his last six club goals have served as game openers or closers. Rennes’ hopes may lie at the feet of Amine Gouiri, who has scored six of his last eight goals for the Bretons away from Roazhon Park – a sequence that started after finding the net at home to Reims last season. [/p]
[p]Hot stat: There have been over 2.5 goals in seven of Rennes’ last eight matches.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Peter Stavrinou[/i][/p]