A mouthwatering clash between the early pacesetters in Ligue 1 will take place on Saturday evening as Rennes play host to fellow high-flyers Monaco at the Roazhon Park.
Both sides picked up victories in their most recent fixtures, with Rennes triumphing over Nimes while Monaco overcame Nantes in gameweek three.
Match preview
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Rennes managed to recover from their recent friendly defeat to Benfica as they displayed their domestic credentials with a thrilling 4-2 win over Nimes.
Substitute Benjamin Bourigeaud was at the heart of the Rennes triumph - coming off the bench to assist Nayef Aguerd before finding the back of the net himself with only seconds remaining.
Having notched up seven goals from three matches - a tally that is only matched by recent opponents Nimes - Rennes are currently atop the rankings courtesy of a superior goal difference over second-placed Monaco.
However, those standings are guaranteed to change with Marseille and Saint-Etienne in action later on Thursday, with the two sides having taken maximum points thus far, and one of them will knock Rennes off their perch by the close of play in midweek.
Even though Julien Stephan's side will no longer be leading the pack when they take to the field against Monaco, the early signs are promising for the Champions League contenders, who would do extremely well to better last season's third-placed ranking, and Rennes are now welcoming Monaco to a ground where they have prevailed in nine of their last 11 in the French top flight.
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Monaco have also enjoyed an unbeaten start to the new campaign and are only one goal worse off than Rennes at this stage - currently occupying second spot before Marseille and Saint-Etienne lock horns on Thursday.
Niko Kovac has seen his side take seven points from a possible nine thus far, but Monaco were made to work for the win once again as they scraped a 2-1 victory over Nantes last time out.
Sofiane Diop broke the deadlock after just five minutes for Monaco, who could have easily had at least four or five before Nantes equalised through Ludovic Blas to set up a nervy end to the game.
However, 19-year-old Willem Geubbels needed just three minutes to find the back of the net after entering the field as a substitute, and Monaco held on to record a 2-1 victory in their third game of the season.
If Les Monegasques are to carry on in the same vein throughout over the next few months, Kovac's men should improve on last season's ninth-placed finish with minimal trouble as they aspire to return to European competition.
A double from Wissam Ben Yedder paved the way for a 3-2 Monaco victory when the sides met last season, and Rennes have only won twice in their last 17 matches with Les Monegasques in all competitions.
Rennes Ligue 1 form: DWW
Monaco Ligue 1 form: DWW
Team News
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Rennes defender Sacha Boey will serve the third and final game of his three-match suspension here, but other than that Stephan has a fully-fit squad at his disposal for the weekend.
Martin Terrier returns from a suspension of his own and is in contention to replace Flavien Tait on the left flank.
Edouard Mendy continues to be linked with a move to Chelsea and won't be involved here, but Eduardo Camavinga has declared his loyalty to Rennes amid reported interest from Real Madrid.
As for Monaco, goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte is back in training after recovering from coronavirus and will return in between the sticks here.
However, the match is expected to come too soon for Aleksandr Golovin, who is nursing a hamstring injury, but Youssouf Fofana returns from a suspension.
Kevin Volland made his debut for Monaco in the win over Nantes, but Henry Onyekuru will be holding out for a recall to the attack for the trip to Rennes.
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Salin; Traore, Da Silva, Aguerd, Maouassa; Camavinga, Bourigeaud, Martin; Raphinha, Guirassy, Terrier
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Lecomte; Aguilar, Disasi, Badiashile, Ballo-Toure; Tchouameni, Fofana, Diop; Martins, Ben Yedder, Onyekuru
We say: Rennes 1-2 Monaco
The pick of the fixtures in gameweek four promises to be a fascinating encounter between two sides who are only looking up at the moment. Rennes and Monaco both boast exciting young stars who are sure to take the game by storm in the next few years, but for now, we are backing Monaco's attacking prowess to steer them to victory on Saturday evening.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win 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.Home/Away:data
Ben Knapton
Data 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 Rennes win with a probability of 46.63%. A win for Monaco had a probability of 27.04% and a draw had a probability of 26.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rennes win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.99%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.08%) and 2-0 (8.73%). The likeliest Monaco win was 0-1 (8.59%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.48%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Rennes would win this match.
