Fresh from their first continental win of the season, Rennes return to Ligue 1 action with the visit of Auxerre to Roazhon Park on Sunday afternoon.
Bruno Genesio's side opened their Europa League campaign with a 2-1 success away to Larnaca in midweek, while the visitors most recently went down 2-0 to Marseille.
Match preview
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Rennes head coach Bruno Genesio understandably had the intention of testing out some of his up-and-coming starlets in the Europa League versus Larnaca, but the 56-year-old was forced to put out a stronger team than he would have liked due to school exams.
A youthful Rennes attack were largely quelled by the Cypriot giants, who were on the brink of gleaning a point after Oier Sanjurjo cancelled out Arthur Theate's opener, but right-back Lorenz Assignon came off the bench to hit the winner for Rennes four minutes into second-half injury time.
A far from straightforward clash against Fenerbahce now awaits Rennes in Group B next week, but Genesio's focus for the time being is on improving his side's patchy Ligue 1 fortunes, as Les Rouges et Noir could only draw 1-1 away to Troyes last weekend.
A pair of wins, a pair of draws and a pair of defeats sees Rennes languishing in ninth spot in the table at the time of writing, and each of Les Rouges et Noir's last six encounters in all competitions has seen both teams score.
The summer defensive reshuffle can be pinpointed as a leading reason for Rennes' defensive frailties so far this term, but they have won each of their last two Ligue 1 fixtures at home, and Auxerre now appear to have been given a harsh dose of reality in Ligue 1.
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Auxerre briefly made waves in the top flight at the end of August after taking seven points from nine in fixtures with Strasbourg, Montpellier HSC and Angers, but the newly-promoted outfit were quickly silenced by Lyon and Marseille - losing to the latter 2-0 last weekend.
Jean-Marc Furlan's side were condemned to a second defeat of the season courtesy of goals from Gerson and Alexis Sanchez in front of the home crowd, but AJA can still take pride in the way in which they have carried themselves so far this season.
Gleaning seven points from their first six fixtures has allowed Auxerre to take up 12th position in the rankings, and Furlan's side would certainly accept such a standing at the end of the season, but the Ligue 1 newbies have not kept a clean sheet on the road in any competition since February.
Not since the 2013-14 Coupe de France have Rennes and Auxerre locked horns - this weekend's hosts ran out 1-0 winners in that last-16 battle - and Les Rogues et Noir are aiming to stretch their unbeaten league run versus AJA to four games here.
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Team News
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Rennes trio Lesley Ugochukwu, Desire Doue and Jeanuel Belocian were among those to miss the Europa League win over Larnaca while they sat their exams, but the trio should be available for the weekend.
Striker Amine Gouiri is also back from a continental ban and will be part of a much-changed forward line, but Genesio is still working without Jeremy Doku, Warmed Omari and Arnaud Kalimuendo due to injuries.
A refreshed Gouiri is sure to take the place of Matthis Abline in the final third, where Benjamin Bourigeaud and Martin Terrier should also come back in for Kamaldeen Sulemana and Birger Meling, as Adrien Truffert returns to his usual left-back role.
As far as Auxerre are concerned, Theo Pellenard is still some months away from returning from an ACL injury, while Julian Jeanvier (ankle) and Gaetan Charbonnier (shin) also remain sidelined.
Charbonnier is not thought to be too far away from a comeback, but for the time being, the attacking responsibilities will fall onto the shoulders of either Nuno Da Costa or Mbaye Niang, the latter of whom returned from suspension against Marseille.
Former Paris Saint-Germain starlet Kays Ruiz-Atil is still struggling to force his way into the first XI, and the defence-minded Rayan Raveloson should start in the middle once more.
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Mandanda; Assignon, Rodon, Theate, Truffert; Majer, Santamaria, Ugochukwu; Bourigeaud, Gouiri, Terrier
Auxerre possible starting lineup:
Costil; Joly, Jubal, Coeff, Mensah; Toure; Hein, Raveloson, Sakhi, Autret; Niang
We say: Rennes 3-0 Auxerre
Auxerre have seemingly discovered just how difficult it is to mix with the big boys in Ligue 1, and facing a Rennes side packed with well-rested attacking options should only end one way.
Genesio's side can also expect to pick up a long-awaited clean sheet too, as Auxerre's frontline does not strike fear into the hearts of many opponents, and Furlan's side ought to be condemned to a third straight defeat.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
