In search of their first Ligue 1 victory away from home in over two months, Monaco will travel to Roazhon Park on Saturday for a date with Rennes on matchday 15 of the domestic campaign.
Stade Rennais lost a chippy affair against Marseille 2-0 last Sunday, dropping them down to 12th in the table, while Les Monegasques are now within two points of Nice for second after defeating Montpellier 2-0.
Match preview
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The winning run domestically for Rennes did not last long, as the Brittany-based side suffered a fifth defeat in their previous seven league fixtures last weekend.
That is as many losses as this team had incurred in their previous 22 league matches played before that, with the defeat at Marseille being their first one under Julien Stephan since he replaced Bruno Genesio.
With a mere 15 points after 14 top-flight encounters, it is the lowest total for this club at this stage of a Ligue 1 season since the 2003-04 campaign (15).
Throughout the 2023-24 season, Stade Rennais have been somewhat unpredictable, netting multiple times in five domestic affairs at home but failing to score on four occasions as the visitors.
Rennes have put together an impressive Europa League campaign thus far, collecting 12 points after five matchdays and leading a group featuring Villarreal while already being assured of a place in the next phase of that competition.
Although they have not lost domestically this season when scoring first, they have also dropped four points when leading at the interval, which could have them up to eighth in the table right now.
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A return to the Principality seemed to reinvigorate Monaco last weekend as an early and late goal in the first and second half, respectively, versus Montpellier, ended a two-match winless run for them in this competition.
Les Monegasques have triumphed in six of seven Ligue 1 affairs this season at Stade Louis II, though they enter this contest without a victory in three successive away matches in this competition, failing to score on two of those occasions.
Throughout the campaign, Monaco have been among the best sides in Ligue 1 regarding chance creation and attacking quality, as four players have multiple assists, with five scoring three or more goals.
In his first season in charge, Adi Hutter has seen his side pick up 27 points after 14 league fixtures, one more than they had at this same stage a season ago under Philippe Clement.
While Monaco appear to be well on their way to returning to Europe next season, there have been questions about their defending, with this team conceding 19 goals domestically, including 15 away from home.
Monaco have only beaten Rennes once in their last five visits to Roazhon Park, claiming a 3-2 triumph on matchday 32 of the 2021-22 season.
Team News
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Christopher Wooh received a straight red card just beyond the hour mark against Marseille, while Nemanja Matic was cautioned later in that match, meaning both players will be suspended for Rennes on Saturday.
Stephan made one change to his starting 11 from matchday 13 to 14 of the Ligue 1 campaign, bringing Baptiste Santamaria into the fold versus Marseille in place of Arnaud Kalimuendo.
Goals from Amine Gouiri, Benjamin Bourigeaud and Arthur Theate helped them to a 3-1 victory over Reims in their previous domestic home fixture.
Monaco may be without Eliesse Ben Seghir for another week due to a sore shoulder, and Myron Boadu could be a few weeks away from recovering after previously sustaining a muscle strain.
Breel Embolo and Caio Henrique will be out of the lineup for a significant time for Les Monegasques because of cruciate ligament tears.
Takumi Minamino scored his fifth of the Ligue 1 campaign last Sunday, while Wissam Ben Yedder notched his team-leading sixth strike, becoming the first player to net 100 times at home in Ligue 1 this century, with Jean-Pierre Papin doing it in the 20th century (November 1996).
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Mandanda; Omari, Belocian, Theate; Bourigeaud, Matic, Blas, Truffert; Gouiri, Kalimuendo; Terrier
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Kohn; Vanderson, Singo, Maripan, Jakobs; Camara, Zakaria; Diatta, Minamino, Golovin; Balogun
We say: Rennes 1-2 Monaco
Les Monegasques have been consistently sharp in the attacking third throughout most of the campaign, while Rennes have been a little over-aggressive lately, which has come back to cost them domestically.
In the end, we expect the visitors' consistent quality will power them to another victory against a side missing a pivotal addition to their backline in Wooh.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
