Lille and Rennes open Ligue 1 accounts
Lille OSC vs Stade Rennais - 22/08/2020
3332
After much deliberation, the 2020/21 Ligue 1 season kicks off this weekend, with Lille welcoming Rennes to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Saturday.
The opening weekend could hardly have dished up a more exciting matchup. Rennes finished third last term with 50 points, while Lille finished fourth with 49 points.
Both sides won 15 of their 28 league games in 2019/20, but Rennes secured one more draw than Lille. So, who will come out on top this time around?
Lille were in decent form before the previous campaign was put on hold, winning six of their final seven league games before the shutdown.
In fact, Lille won ten of their last 14 league games – a run that propelled the club from tenth to fourth between November and March.
Lille also finished the previous campaign with three consecutive clean sheets and kept five clean sheets in their last six league games.
It’s also worth pointing out that only three teams boasted a better defensive record that Lille last term, although they were the lowest scorers in the top five.
Meanwhile, Rennes qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history after finishing third – six points behind second-place Marseille.
Rennes finished the 2019/20 campaign with a mixed bag of results, claiming five wins, three draws, and two defeats in their last ten outings.
Julien Stephan’s side aren’t the highest scorers, but only Reims had a better defensive record than Rennes in Logue 1 last season.
Head-to-head: These two sides have enjoyed mixed success in this fixture in recent seasons, although Lille were unbeaten against Rennes last term.
Looking at the bigger picture, Rennes have won five of their previous eight meetings with Lille, while Lille have claimed two wins and a draw during that period.
Team news: Lille will be hoping that Timothy Weah has recovered from a hamstring injury sustained at the end of last season.
However, Lille will be without last term’s top scorer Victor Osimhen after the Nigerian striker agreed terms with Italian side Napoli.
Rennes have no fresh injury concerns ahead of their season opener. New signing Martin Terrier is expected to start.
It’s difficult to foresee exactly which way this game will go, as neither side has played any competitive matches for a number of months.
Forebet predicts that Lille’s superiority will shine through. A narrow home win is on the cards, while a Lille clean sheet is also likely.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
Fr1
452332
1
1 - 0
1.99
17°
1.91
1.91
3.40
4.25
-1
1
1
1 - 1(1 - 0)
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