Preview: Lille vs Rennes - prediction, team news, lineups

Lille and Rennes will be in league action for the first time in 2026 in a matchday 17 Ligue 1 encounter at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Saturday.

Both sides will resume their chase for European football, having ended the previous year on a high note.

Match preview

Lille ended 2025 with four consecutive victories in the French top flight, and they will aim to maintain that run beginning with their first league fixture of the new year.

In their last league encounter, the home team edged Auxerre in a seven-goal thriller on the road to record their 10th win in 16 league fixtures.

Bruno Genesio’s team are in fine fettle, having won six of their last matches across all competitions, with the 1-0 loss to Young Boys in the Europa League in December the only dent in their record.

Currently sitting fourth in the standings, five points adrift of leaders Lens, Les Dogues will be aiming to claim another scalp on Saturday as they continue their quest to finish in a European position at the end of the season.

Going into this encounter, LOSC can bank on their rampant attack, as they remain one of the top three teams for goals scored with 33 so far, a tally which is bettered only by Marseille (36) and PSG (35).

The hosts know the importance of getting out of the blocks early, as they have won eight of the last nine league encounters when they scored first, with the other being a draw.

Meanwhile, Rennes suffered a humbling 5-0 humiliation at the hands of PSG in gameweek 15, but they made up for that with back-to-back wins against Brest in the league and Les Sables in the cup.

Like the hosts, Rennes also have their sights set on clinching a European place, and a slip this weekend could see them lose their grip on the final European spot.

That said, the visiting side are also enjoying a good run of form, a situation which is highlighted by their five victories in their last six league outings.

After 16 top-flight matches, Habib Beye’s team have accrued 27 points, a tally which is 10 points better than at this stage of the previous two campaigns.

Nevertheless, their record against the hosts is not impressive, having failed to win in their last 12 meetings, with six losses and the same number of draws.

Lille Ligue 1 form:

Lille form (all competitions):

Rennes Ligue 1 form:

Rennes form (all competitions):

Team News

Lille come into this encounter with a depleted squad due to a combination of injuries, suspensions and international assignments.

Brazilian defender Alexsandro is out with a thigh injury, while Ousmane Toure is sidelined by a knee injury.

Nathan Ngoy and Romain Perraud were sent off in their last league action of 2025 against Auxerre, and, as such, they will not be a part of Genesio’s plans for the weekend, while Ayyoub Bouaddi could be restored to the starting XI in the league since he got his marching orders against Le Havre in December.

Additionally, they will miss the services of Chancel Mbemba and Aissa Mandi, both of whom are away at the Africa Cup of Nations representing Congo D.R. and Algeria, respectively.

Nevertheless, they will have Hakon Haraldsson and Olivier Giroud, both of whom have nine goals between them, available for Saturday’s fixture.

For the away side, Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal is currently with Morocco at AFCON, as are Seko Fofana and Mahamadou Nagida, who are with Ivory Coast and Cameroon in the same competition.

Lille possible starting lineup:

Ozer; Meunier, Fernandes, Santos, Verdonk; Bouaddi, Bentaleb; Mbappe, Haraldsson, Sahraoui; Giroud

Rennes possible starting lineup:

Samba; Brassier, Rouault, Jacquet; Tamari, Cisse, Rongier, Camara, Frankowski; Embolo, Le Paul

We say: Lille 2-2 Rennes

This fixture pits two sides with attacking dexterity against each other, and we are sure to see end-to-end action with chances at both ends of the pitch. And given their goalscoring exploits so far in the current campaign, we reckon there will be a glut of goals, but it is too tough to call an outright winner; hence, we reckon they will play out a 2-2 draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.