Rennes will be looking to keep their hopes of Champions League qualification alive when they welcome a struggling Angers outfit to Roazhon Park for their Ligue 1 battle on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts have won each of their last four league games on home soil, scoring 13 times in the process, while the visitors have failed to win any of the last five matches in all competitions on the road, conceding a total of 11 goals.
Match preview
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Since suffering a slender 1-0 defeat away at league leaders Paris Saint-Germain, Rennes have cruised to victory against Troyes and Montpellier, scoring four goals in both games.
A 4-1 home win over Troyes was followed five days later by a 4-2 victory at the Stade de la Mosson, with Martin Terrier, Benjamin Bourigeaud, Gaetan Laborde and Lovro Majer all on the scoresheet.
Bruno Genesio's men have climbed up to fourth in the Ligue 1 standings, three points behind Nice in third, who occupy the final Champions League qualification position, and four points behind Marseille in second.
Rennes head into Sunday's contest after winning eight of their last 10 home games in Ligue 1, scoring a total of 29 goals, which is the best current run in the top flight.
Les Rouge et Noir have, however, lost two of their last three encounters against Angers, including a 2-0 defeat in August last year, so they will be wary of the threat that the visitors could pose this weekend.
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Angers' rapid slide down the Ligue 1 table continues after they suffered their fifth straight league defeat – as well as the eighth in their last 10 matches – when they lost 2-1 at home to Lens last weekend.
After a goalless first half, Angelo Fulgini put Les Noirs et Blancs in front four minutes after the break; however, the dismissal of teenage starlet Mohamed-Ali Cho in the 69th minute hampered the host's momentum and put the visitors in control.
An own goal from Batista Mendy was followed just three minutes later by a strike from Jonathan Clauss to turn the game on its head and condemn Angers to their 11th defeat of the campaign.
At the beginning of December, Les Noirs et Blancs were sitting in the top half of the table and just two points behind the top four. Fast forward two months and Gerald Baticle's men are now positioned in 15th place, 14 points behind the top four and seven points above the drop zone.
Angers have performed well in recent meetings against Rennes, winning three of their last four encounters across all competitions, so Baticle will be hoping for a much-needed response on Sunday.
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Team News
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Rennes quartet Flavien Tait, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Loic Bade and Lesley Ugochukwu are all injury doubts and will be assessed ahead of kickoff, while backup goalkeeper Romain Salin is ruled out with a calf problem.
Winger Jeremy Doku made his first appearance in a month last weekend after recovering from a hamstring injury, and the Belgium international will be in contention to feature against Angers, though he is unlikely to start as Terrier and Bourigeaud are set to continue on the flanks.
Laborde has faced Angers 11 times without scoring in his career, but the striker is expected to lead the line ahead of Serhou Guirassy.
As for the visitors, they will be without the suspended Cho, so Stephane Bahoken is set to deputise as a result, joining Sofiane Boufal in attack.
Right wing-back Jimmy Cabot is Angers' only injury concern as he continues to recover from an ankle problem. Mathias Pereira Lage is the most likely candidate to start in Cabot's place, while Souleyman Doumbia is set to continue on the opposite flank.
Angers are one of only two Ligue 1 teams, along with Lens, who are yet to name a four-man defence in their starting lineup this season, and ever-present trio Ismael Traore, Vincent Manceau and Romain Thomas are set to remain as the three centre-backs in Baticle's side.
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Gomis; Traore, Omari, Aguerd, Meling; Santamaria, Martin, Majer; Bourigeaud, Laborde, Terrier
Angers possible starting lineup:
Petkovic; Manceau, Traore, Thomas; Lage, Mendy, Bentaleb, Doumbia; Fulgini; Boufal, Bahoken
We say: Rennes 3-0 Angers
Despite Angers' recent record against Rennes, the hosts are understandably the favourites to come away with all three points this weekend.
Genesio's men will be keen to keep their Champions League hopes alive, so a strong showing on home soil could be on the cards.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Rennes win with a probability of 81.79%. A draw had a probability of 13.1% and a win for Angers had a probability of 5.07%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rennes win was 2-0 with a probability of 16.01%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-0 (13.37%) and 1-0 (12.78%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.01%), while for an Angers win it was 0-1 (2.4%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 16% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Rennes in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Rennes.
