Seeking consecutive victories for the first time in Ligue 1 this year, Reims will conclude their domestic campaign on Sunday when they welcome Rennes to Stade Auguste-Delaune.
A 1-0 victory over Marseille on matchday 33 moved Reims into the top half of the table, in 10th, two points below Stade Rennais, who played to a 1-1 draw with Lens last weekend.
Match preview
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Samba Diawara has made a solid early impression as caretaker manager of Les Rouges et Blancs, claiming points in his first two matches at the helm.
The most noticeable improvement since Diawara took charge has been defensively, where Reims have conceded just a single goal in their last two domestic encounters after allowing a combined 10 strikes in their final three league fixtures under outgoing manager Will Still.
On matchday 33, they claimed just their second top-flight victory at Stade Auguste-Delaune this year, while this team have not won consecutive games on home soil in this competition since December 2023.
Stade de Reims have registered two clean sheets in their previous three Ligue 1 home fixtures, as many as they had managed in their previous eight.
If they can keep Rennes off the scoresheet this weekend, Les Rouges et Blancs would end the season with eight clean sheets domestically at Stade Auguste-Delaune, equalling the most for this club in a single top-flight campaign this century (2012-13 and 2019-20).
They have lost three of their last four Ligue 1 affairs versus Stade Rennais but were able to win this exact fixture last season 3-1.
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Rennes will not play a seventh successive season of European football, as their draw against Lens put them out of contention for a Europa Conference League place.
That draw also means that they can accumulate no more than 49 points domestically in 2023-24, marking the first time that they will end a single top-flight campaign with fewer than 50 points since 2013-14 (46), when there were only 33 matchdays.
Last weekend was also the first time this team had failed to score multiple times in this competition since a 2-1 defeat versus Toulouse in mid-April.
After winning their first five league contests of 2024, Julien Stephan's men have cooled off significantly over the past couple of months, winning just two top-flight encounters since the beginning of March.
Les Rouge et Noirs have, however, won consecutive away matches in this competition, scoring three goals both times and have a chance this weekend to claim three successive road victories in the French top-flight for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
They have only beaten Reims once in their last seven visits to Stade Auguste-Delaune, hanging onto a 3-2 victory in April 2022.
Team News
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Do not expect to see Mohamed Daramy in the Reims squad on Sunday as he is still dealing with a sore knee, while Joseph Okumu has a problem with his ankle and Valentin Atangana is suffering from a thigh injury.
Thibault De Smet was eligible to return from his red card suspension against Marseille but was an unused substitute, while Reda Khadra and Amir Richardson were once again utilised off the bench.
An own-goal from Chancel Mbemba was all Reims would need to defeat Marseille this week as Yehvann Diouf made three stops for his first clean sheet since April 7 (0-0 draw with Nice).
Rennes were without Martin Terrier, Azor Matusiwa and Arnaud Kalimuendo through suspension last week, but they are all eligible to return on Sunday.
Two changes were made to their starting 11 on matchday 33, as Enzo Le Fee and Baptiste Santamaria replaced Terrier and Matusiwa in the squad.
An 82nd-minute strike from Ibrahim Salah was the only goal Rennes would score against Lens last weekend, his fourth of the domestic campaign.
Reims possible starting lineup:
Diouf; Busi, Agbadou, Abdelhamid, Akieme; Richardson, Munetsi; Ito, Teuma, Khadra; Diakite
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Mandanda; Seidu, Wooh, Belocian, Truffert; Bourigeaud, Blas, Santamaria, Doue; Terrier, Gouiri
We say: Reims 1-1 Rennes
With nothing to play for but pride there will not be any pressure on either side, so we expect there will be chances, but we anticipate the Reims backline will hold relatively firm like they have since Diawara took charge.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
