Rennes will be looking to claim their sixth successive victory across all competitions when they travel to the Stade de l'Aube to face Troyes for their Ligue 1 clash on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts, meanwhile, will be hoping they can extend their unbeaten home run in the French top flight to four matches.
Match preview
© Reuters
At the beginning of October, Troyes were sitting just above the relegation playoff position on goal difference. However since then, they have claimed two successive victories to climb six points clear of the drop zone.
An impressive 1-0 triumph at home against high-flying Nice was followed by a 2-1 win away against Reims last weekend.
The hosts were leading after just six minutes when defender Yunis Abdelhamid headed in at the back post, but strikes either side of half time from Mama Balde and Xavier Chavalerin helped turned the game on its head for ESTAC to claim their second away win of the campaign.
Troyes head into Sunday's clash after failing to win any of their last four league games on home soil against Rennes, with their last top-flight victory dating back to November 2005.
Their recent form, however, will give head coach Laurent Batlles confidence that they can claim their third consecutive Ligue 1 victory for the first time since May 2013.
© Reuters
Rennes' 100% record in October remains intact after they claimed a slender 1-0 victory at home against Strasbourg last weekend.
Les Rennais were frustrated for the majority of the match, with Strasbourg goalkeeper Matz Sels making several brilliant saves to keep the score level. However, the deadlock was eventually broken in the 82nd minute when Nayef Aguerd headed home from Lovro Majer's corner to secure their fifth successive victory across all competitions.
That result has seen Bruno Genesio's side edge closer to the Champions League positions, and they are now sitting two places and two points behind Nice in third.
Rennes are unbeaten in each of their last four meetings against Troyes, though they head into Sunday's encounter having won only three of their last 12 away games in the top flight against newly-promoted sides.
Victory this weekend would see Les Rennais claim successive away wins in Ligue 1 for the first time in 2021.
- D
- L
- D
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
Team News
© Reuters
Troyes have eight players ruled out with injuries, including midfield trio Florian Tardieu (foot), Karim Azamoum (knee) and Metinho (shoulder).
Defenders Tanguy Zoukrou (knock) Oualid El Hajjam (shoulder), Youssouf Kone (concussion), Yasser Larouci (Achilles) and Philippe Sandler (thigh) are also unavailable for selection.
Troyes were able to welcome back Gerson Rodrigues as a substitute last weekend following a spell on the sidelines with injury, and the Luxembourg forward is now in contention to start ahead of Renaud Ripart.
As for Rennes, they remain without talented teenage forward Jeremy Doku and defender Jeremy Gelin, who continue to recover from knee injuries.
Genesio is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to his starting lineup, so the likes of Benjamin Bourigeaud and Kamaldeen Sulemana should retain their places on the flanks.
Gaetan Laborde and Martin Terrier are also expected to keep their partnership going up front, though Serhou Guirassy will be hoping he can force his way into the first XI.
Troyes possible starting lineup:
Gallon; Rami, Giraudon, Salmier; Kabore, Kouame, Chavalerin, Biancone; Rodrigues, Balde; Touzghar
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Gomis; Traore, Omari, Aguerd, Meling; Bourigeaud, Martin, Tait, Sulemana; Laborde, Terrier
We say: Troyes 1-2 Rennes
With Rennes currently enjoying a five-game winning streak, they will be the strong favourites to come out on top this weekend.
Troyes should not be taken lightly by the visitors, however, and a closely-fought contest is set to be played out at the Stade de l'Aube. Nevertheless, we expect Genesio's men to claim all three points.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
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 49.78%. A draw had a probability of 25.5% and a win for Troyes had a probability of 24.72%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rennes win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.99%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (9.37%) and 0-2 (9.28%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.11%), while for a Troyes win it was 1-0 (7.83%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 4.7% likelihood.
