Rennes vs Marseille prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2024-03-16 16:05.
[p]Rennes know time is running out if they are to qualify for European football via their league position. The Red and Blacks have played continental football in each of the last six seasons, but a damaging 2-2 draw at Lille last weekend, when surrendering a two-goal lead in the final few minutes, means they are winless in their last three top-flight outings (D2, L1) and have slipped four points adrift in the race for the top six ahead of this round.[/p]
[p]The saving grace for Julien Stéphan’s side is that they are through to the Coupe de France semi-finals, so could use that route to reach Europe. Focused firmly on the league for now, they can still ill-afford to slip up against opponents Marseille, who sit directly above them in the table. Perhaps they can draw confidence from a return to Roazhon Park, where Rennes had registered five victories in a row across all competitions prior to a 2-1 defeat to Lorient earlier this month.[/p]
[p]One of those matches was against Marseille, a 1-1 draw in the Coupe de France which the Phocaeans subsequently lost on penalties, although with only two defeats from the last 12 league H2Hs (W6, D4), Marseille will expect better here. Supporters will have plenty of faith in that run continuing too, as their side have propelled themselves up the table in recent weeks by winning three successive league outings.[/p]
[p]That form coincides with the arrival of Jean-Louis Gasset as manager, who had won each of his five games since taking the reins at Stade VĂ©lodrome until suffering a 3-1 UEFA Europa League defeat to Villarreall on Thursday, although they progressed to the quarter-finals 5-3 on aggregate. Marseille will now attempt to bounce back in this fixture where, after beating Clermont on the road earlier this month, they could register successive away league wins for the first time since March 2023.[/p]
[p]Key battle: Rennes’ Ludovic Blas, who is attempting to score in back-to-back appearances for the first time since February 2023, has netted 12 of his last 17 goals after half-time. Marseille’s goalscoring impetus likely falls on Iliman Ndiaye, who has helped his team to victory in 20 of the 24 games in which he has scored (D2, L2). [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Ahead of the round, a league-high 17 of Rennes’ 25 Ligue 1 games this season saw both teams score.[/p]