Bordeaux will endeavour to win just their second game of the Ligue 1 season when they play host to basement side Dijon at the Stade Matmut Atlantique on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Dijon are rooted to the bottom of the table after picking up just one point from 15 on offer thus far.
Match preview
© Reuters
Bordeaux's defensive record speaks for itself - four shutouts from five matches is certainly something to be admired - but that resilience has not translated into results on the pitch.
Indeed, Les Girondins are winless since their 2-0 victory over Angers in the second week of the season, having played out goalless stalemates with Lyon and Nice either side of a loss to newly-promoted Lens.
Jean-Louis Gasset's men have become renowned for their low-scoring affairs this term and have only notched up three strikes at the correct end of the pitch too - only Dijon, Reims and Metz can also boast a trio of goals from five matches.
However, the visit of Dijon represents a prime opportunity for Bordeaux's attacking contingent to start firing, although the visitors finally managed to get a point on the board in their most recent outing.
© Reuters
Even though Dijon are one of only two teams without a win in the top flight, the division's basement side can be encouraged by their performance against Montpellier, which saw them take their first point of the season in gameweek five.
Stephane Jobard's men twice went ahead through goals from Eric Ebimbe and Bruno Ecuele Manga, and with the score at 2-1 heading into the dying minutes, Montpellier had to rely on a Teji Savanier penalty to come away with a draw.
The Dijon faithful would have no doubt been disheartened to see their side take just one point rather than three from that game, but the signs were positive for Les Hiboux, who would do extremely well to go one better against the staunch rearguard action of Bordeaux.
Dijon are winless against Les Girondins since the 2017-18 Ligue 1 campaign, although Bordeaux were held to a 2-2 draw by their opponents in this fixture last season, having taken the spoils in a 2-0 victory at Dijon a few months before.
Bordeaux Ligue 1 form: DWDLD
Dijon Ligue 1 form: LLLLD
Team News
© Reuters
Bordeaux will have to make do without Brazilian midfielder Otavio, who is suspended for this one after accumulating three yellow cards within the space of 10 matches.
Gasset is therefore facing a selection dilemma when it comes to who will partner Toma Basic in the middle of the park, although Paul Baysse returns from a suspension.
Not one member of Bordeaux's starting attacking quartet completed the full 90 minutes against Nice, so it would not be a surprise to see Gasset shuffle the pack up top, with Jimmy Briand and Remi Oudin in contention to feature from the first whistle.
As for the visitors, Romain Amalfitano is expected to miss out again here, but Jobard otherwise has no real injury concerns heading into gameweek six.
However, goalkeeper Alfred Gomis has joined Rennes, so Anthony Racioppi will make his debut after joining on a free transfer from Lyon.
Mounir Chouiar has been linked with a move away during the transfer window but appeared off the bench in the draw with Montpellier, and the winger could be handed a start for this one.
Bordeaux possible starting lineup:
Costil; Sabaly, Koscielny, Pablo, Benito; Baysse, Basic; Oudin, Adli, Preville; Briand
Dijon possible starting lineup:
Racioppi; Chafik, Panzo, Manga, Chala; Ndong, Cheikh; Ebimbe, Celina, Chouiar; Assale
We say: Bordeaux 2-0 Dijon
Bordeaux have proven to be incredibly difficult to break down this season, and a Dijon side boasting just three goals from five games is certainly not expected to breach the Girondins defence. While the visitors performed valiantly against Montpellier, we cannot see Bordeaux falling to defeat here and are backing the hosts to get back to winning ways.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:dataData 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 Bordeaux win with a probability of 52.13%. A draw had a probability of 27.3% and a win for Dijon had a probability of 20.55%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bordeaux win was 1-0 with a probability of 15.88%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.2%) and 2-1 (8.67%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.28%), while for a Dijon win it was 0-1 (8.7%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 5.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Bordeaux would win this match.