Seeking to bounce back from their lowly Champions League qualifying elimination, Monaco resume Ligue 1 duties with the visit of Rennes to the Stade Louis-II on Saturday afternoon.

Philippe Clement's side were knocked out of Europe's top tournament by PSV Eindhoven in midweek, while the visitors suffered a shock loss to Lorient on the opening matchday of Ligue 1.

Match preview

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For two years in a row, Monaco have failed to successfully navigate the Champions League qualifying rounds and will once again be consigned to Europa League football for the upcoming year after a 4-3 aggregate loss to PSV.

With the tie delicately poised after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Monaco struck through Wissam Ben Yedder and Guillermo Maripan at the Philips Stadion, but Joey Veerman, Erick Gutierrez and Luuk de Jong were on target for the hosts to set up a playoff date with Rangers.

Another appearance in the Champions League group stage has now gone begging for Les Monegasques, who did at least manage to kick off their new Ligue 1 campaign in a positive manner with a 2-1 success away to Strasbourg last weekend.

Clement's outfit now prepare to welcome Rennes to a ground where they have strung together a five-game winning streak in Ligue 1 - including a 3-0 thumping of Paris Saint-Germain back in March - and there was nothing for the visitors to cheer on the opening weekend.

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Just two weeks after embarking on a new adventure at Rennes following his arrival from Bologna, centre-back Arthur Theate endured a nightmare debut for Les Rouge et Noir, as their 2022-23 season began with a dismal home defeat to Lorient in the latest Derby Breton.

With 65 minutes on the clock, the 22-year-old stuck a leg out to try to prevent a cross from entering the danger area, but the ball deflected off of his shin and into the back of the net over the head of veteran goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.

Rennes' efforts to claw their way back into the contest were in vain, although it took a spectacular save from Yvon Mvogo to deny substitute Jeremy Doku an equaliser, and Bruno Genesio's side must also dust themselves down for gameweek two.

However, Les Rouge et Noir ended the 2021-22 season winless in three Ligue 1 matches away from home, and Genesio's side have failed to keep a domestic clean sheet away from home since December - conceding twice in each of their last four on rival turf.

Fixtures between Monaco and Rennes have tended to be tightly-fought affairs in recent years, with Les Monegasques winning each of the last three by a one-goal margin, and not since the 2016-17 Coupe de la Ligue last-16 has either of these sides prevailed in this fixture by two or more goals - it finished 7-0 to Monaco that day.

Team News

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Monaco have welcomed Caio Henrique back from COVID-19 infection as the Brazilian aims to displace Ismail Jakobs on the left-hand side of the backline, but Ruben Aguilar, Willem Geubbels and Myron Boadu are all injured.

A much-changed Monaco XI could see recalls for Krepin Diatta and Sofiane Diop, who were both on target in the win over Strasbourg, as Takumi Minamino prepares to drop out amid his underwhelming start to life in France. Malang Sarr could also make his debut after his arrival from Chelsea, while Benoit Badiashile is back in the fold too.

Kevin Volland and Aleksandr Golovin are both back from domestic suspensions, but the former was taken off at half time in midweek and could find his spot under threat from Breel Embolo.

As for Rennes, Warmed Omari, Birger Meling and Lorenz Assignon all missed the opening fixture of the season due to injury, and none of the trio is expected to come back just yet either.

Kamaldeen Sulemana and Doku are both aiming to put their injury woes behind them and are options for change in the Rouges et Noir attack, with Gaetan Laborde's spot perhaps most at risk.

Fellow striker Serhou Guirassy was left out of the starting lineup last week amid links with a transfer to Everton, and Genesio is unlikely to consider the 26-year-old for a place in the first XI here either.

Monaco possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Vanderson, Disasi, Maripan, Henrique; Fofana, Lucas; Diatta, Diop, Martins; Ben Yedder

Rennes possible starting lineup:
Mandanda; Traore, Rodon, Theate, Truffert; Majer, Santamaria, Tait; Bourigeaud, Terrier, Doku

We say: Monaco 2-1 Rennes

While some weary legs in the Monaco camp should play their part this week, Clement's well-rested attackers are the ones who got the job done against Strasbourg last week, which serves as a reason for optimism for the home crowd.

After struggling to find their attacking touch against Lorient, Rennes are unlikely to experience greater joy in a fixture that has not been kind to them in recent years, and we have faith in Monaco to recover from their European exit with a second Ligue 1 success on the bounce.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Ben Knapton

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