Preview: Rennes vs Le Mans - prediction, team news, lineups

For the first time since 2010, Rennes and Le Mans will face each other on the Ligue 1 stage, with their matchday two affair taking place at Roazhon Park on Sunday.

Both sides came away with 2-2 draws in the opening weekend of the new campaign, despite each having the lead in the second half.

Match preview

In a tale of two halves, Rennes failed to make their strong opening 45 minutes count last Sunday versus Paris Saint-Germain, dropping points in their first game of a new Ligue 1 season for the first time since 2022.

On the other hand, they now have points in five successive top flight outings on home soil while netting multiple times in each of those games.

The Brittany club have failed to triumph in two of their last three league encounters when netting first, while Franck Haise’s men have lost twice in that scenario this year.

Stade Rennais have never lost a home game in 2026 when leading at the interval, with their draw on matchday one being the only such time they dropped points in that scenario.

They won two of their three league matches at Roazhon Park last season versus newly promoted sides, with that lone defeat coming at home to their Brittany rivals Lorient in January (2-0).

Les Rouge et Noirs are undefeated at home against Le Mans this century, earning a 2-1 victory the last time they faced them at Roazhon Park in Ligue 1 in 2009.

For a club that had not featured in the French top flight for over 15 years, Le Mans looked pretty good all things considered on matchday one.

While they were a half hour away from collecting maximum points, the club from Northwestern France picked up their first point in this competition since May of 2010.

Sunday will mark their first away game in this competition since then, with the team seeking to end a three-match winless run in the top flight this weekend.

Patrick Videira’s men have incurred just one domestic defeat away from home this year, conceding just once in their last three Ligue 2 away matches last season.

While they had the joint-best defence regarding goals conceded in Ligue 2 last season, 23 of their 31 goals allowed took place away from home.

On Sunday, Les Mucistes can claim their first away victory in Ligue 1 versus Stade Rennais and their first against them in this competition since 2005 (4-0).

Rennes Ligue 1 form:

Le Mans Ligue 1 form:

Team News

On matchday one, Charlie Cresswell got his first start with Rennes since coming over on loan from Toulouse, paired with Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal at centre-back and tasked with filling the shoes of Jeremy Jacquet, who left for Liverpool in the summer.

Esteban Lepaul has become a goal machine for them, with last season’s Ligue 1 top goalscorer netting seven times in pre-season, while he and Sebastian Szymanski scored in their draw on matchday one.

Newly acquired Djibril Sidibe will seek his first cap with Le Mans after being an unused substitute last weekend, with the back three against Brest consisting of Noa Boisse, Theo Eyoum and Yasser Larouci.

Dame Gueye and Louis Mafouta found the back of the net for them versus Stade Brestois, the first in Ligue 1 for the former.

Rennes possible starting lineup:

Samba; Frankowski, Ait Boudlal, Cresswell, Merlin; Rongier; Szymanski, Thomasson; Al-Taamari, Lepaul, Soumare

Le Mans possible starting lineup:

Kocik; Boisse, Eyoum, Larouci; Bamba, Traore; Buades, Bourabaa; Mafouta, Rabillard, Gueye

We say: Rennes 3-1 Le Mans

As sharp as Le Mans were in attack last week, they showed their share of vulnerabilities at the back and we believe that weakness will be exposed against a potent and creative Rennes squad, which boasts the hottest striker in Ligue 1.

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