Newly-crowned Coupe de France winners Nantes will return to Ligue 1 action on Wednesday night when they welcome Rennes to the Stade de la Beaujoire.
The hosts have only lost one of their last nine league games on home soil, while the visitors saw their four-game unbeaten run on the road come to an end in their most recent trip to Strasbourg.
Match preview
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For the first time since 2004-05, Nantes managed to get their hands on silverware after beating Nice 1-0 in the Coupe de France final last weekend.
A 47th-minute penalty from top scorer Ludovic Blas helped the Canaries secure a historic triumph at the Stade de France, and regardless of their league position, Antoine Kombouare's men will be competing in the Europa League next season.
Nantes will now turn their attention back to Ligue 1 where they are bidding to secure their first top-half finish for five years. The Canaries currently sit ninth in the Ligue 1 table, 11 points behind Wednesday's opponents Rennes in fourth and three points above Brest in 11th.
Nantes have only won two of their last 22 top-flight matches against Rennes, including a slender 1-0 home win in September 2019.
Victory for the Canaries on Wednesday, however, would be their 11th in the league at the Stade de la Beaujoire this term, the club's highest total since 2003-04.
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After suffering successive Ligue 1 defeats against fellow European contenders Monaco and Strasbourg, Rennes have since claimed back-to-back victories against Lorient and Saint-Etienne.
A brace from Croatian playmaker Lovro Majer helped Les Rouge et Noir secure a 2-0 win over Les Verts last weekend to keep them in the race for a top-three finish.
Rennes are currently three points behind Monaco in third, who occupy the final Champions League position, though the latter have played a game more.
Bruno Genesio's side have accumulated 62 points and have won 19 of their 35 Ligue 1 matches this term, both of which are club records in a single top-flight campaign.
Rennes will be confident of claiming three more points on Wednesday as they have beaten Nantes a total of 15 times this century, including a narrow 1-0 home win back in August this season; only against Toulouse (17) have they won more to date.
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Team News
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Nantes left-back Charles Traore is set to miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury, but otherwise, Kombouare has a fully-fit squad to choose from on Wednesday.
Jean-Charles Castelletto, Andrei Girotto and Nicolas Pallois are all expected to continue in the back three, though Dennis Appiah will be hoping to force his way into the first XI after being an unused substitute against Nice.
Top scorer Randal Kolo Muani will be looking to end a four-game goal drought in midweek, with the 23-year-old set to partner Moses Simon in attack.
As for Rennes, they will be without Alfred Gomis (broken finger), Loic Bade (groin), Kamaldeen Sulemana (back) and Jeremy Gelin (ACL) due to injury.
Centre-back Nayef Aguerd will serve the final game of his two-match suspension, so midfielder Baptiste Santamaria is expected to start again in the heart of the defence alongside Warmed Omari.
Martin Terrier – who has scored 21 Ligue 1 goals this term, just three fewer than the league's top scorer Kylian Mbappe – will be looking to add to his tally on Wednesday, with the 25-year-old set to join Gaetan Laborde and Benjamin Bourigeaud in attack.
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Appiah, Pallois, Girotto; Coco, Moutoussamy, Chirivella, Merlin; Blas; Simon, Kolo Muani
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Alemdar; Traore, Omari, Santamaria, Meling; Tait, Martin, Majer; Terrier, Laborde, Bourigeaud
We say: Nantes 1-2 Rennes
Nantes will head into Wednesday's fixture on a real high after their cup triumph, but as they have already qualified for Europe, they may not be as motivated as they once were to claim maximum points in their remaining league fixtures.
Kombouare will ensure his side remain competitive against Rennes and they will fancy their chances of success, but we can see the visitors coming out on top to boost their hopes of Champions League football next season.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats, suggests the most likely outcome of this match is a Rennes win with a probability of 44.01%. A win for Nantes has a probability of 31.55% and a draw has a probability of 24.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rennes win is 1-2 with a probability of 9.11%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome are 0-1 (8.67%) and 0-2 (6.92%). The likeliest Nantes win is 2-1 (7.51%), while for a drawn scoreline it is 1-1 (11.41%).
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
