Rennes welcome Lyon to Roazhon Park on Friday night, as the second round of matches in the French Ligue 1 get underway.
Rennes
Having claimed a valuable point at Troyes on the opening weekend of the campaign last time around, Rennes play at Roazhon Park for the first time this season, with their home form over the last 12 months having helped them to a ninth place finish in Ligue 1. Rennes have spent big in the transfer market over the summer in a bid to improve their playing squad, with the likes of Ismaila Sarr, Faitout Maouassa and Benjamin Bourigeaud joining for around 25 million Euros. Manager Christian Gourcuff is kicking off his first full season in charge following his return to the club, with son Yoann Gourcuff having starred for Rennes since his arrival back in 2015. The former French international is unlikely to feature against his former side on Friday however, with new signing Benjamin Bourigeaud once again set to start in his absence.
Lyon
Lyon sit top of the standings in France following a dominant opening round victory over Strasbourg, with new signing Mariano Diaz having impressed on his debut for the club, as the former Real Madrid man found the back of the net twice. With the likes of Memphis Depay, Bertrand Traore and Nabil Fekir supporting the Dominican Republic forward in the final third, Lyon are undoubtedly a side that are always capable of scoring a goal. Manager Bruno Génésio led his team to a fourth-place finish in Ligue 1 last season, with Lyon looking to challenge the likes of PSG and Monaco this time around. It was Lyon’s away form that effected their league position last season, with a trip to Rennes the kind of fixture in which they must look to win if they harbour any hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
Head to Head
Rennes and Lyon have met on 29 occasions in the past, with Lyon having gotten the better of their Ligue 1 rivals 12 times, while losing out seven times. As well as this, the duo has played out draws on ten occasions.
Despite this, Rennes have not beaten Lyon since back in 2015, when they claimed a narrow victory at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais, with the red and blacks certainly hoping to make up for their deficiencies over recent seasons. Lyon claimed a 1-1 draw at Roazhon Park last season, having already narrowly beaten them on home turf.
Betting Odds and Predictions
Games between the two teams generally fail to produce a large amount of goals, with only 11 goals finding the back of the net in their last five meetings. Taking this into consideration, backing there being under 2.5 goals looks to be a good option for betting customers, with Ladbrokes offering best odds of 11/10 for this market.
Meanwhile, for those looking to back a surprise home win for Rennes, bookmakers SkyBet offer odds of 14/5, which given their home record, is worth taking advantage of.
Top Betting Tip
Our top betting tip for Rennes’ encounter with Lyon is to back either team to win, meaning that your bet will be successful as long as the final outcome of the match is not a draw. This can be found at best odds of 29/100 at William Hill.