Rennes welcome table-toppers Lyon to the Roazhon Park on Saturday in the pick of the weekend's fixtures.
Julien Stephan's men were held to a goalless drew by Nantes last time out, while Les Gones leapfrogged Lille with a victory over Lens to move to the Ligue 1 summit.
Match preview
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Les Rouge et Noir are unbeaten in their last five outings and are looking well placed to repeat the feat they achieved in 2019-20 of qualifying for the Champions League.
Despite selling key stars Edouard Mendy and Raphinha to Premier League clubs, Rennes have continued to outperform expectations this season, having replaced them well.
Their success has been built on solid foundations rather than a potent attack, but Stephan's side is well balanced and can cause any domestic team problems on their day.
Four clean sheets in their last five outings for Rennes outlines the task Lyon face when they head to the North-West of France, and it should be a close, evenly fought encounter.
A win for Les Rouge et Noir would blow an already tight title race wide open and mean the top four could be separated by just four points.
Lyon are sitting pretty at the top of the Ligue 1 table after losing just one game all season.
Rudi Garcia's side have put a remarkable run of form together of late, winning seven of their last eight league fixtures and going unbeaten since mid-August.
Despite being heavily linked with a move away from the club, Netherlands international forward Memphis Depay has been putting in several match-winning performances in recent weeks.
The former Manchester United man has scored four goals in his last four outings and is sitting second in the goalscoring charts, behind only Kylian Mbappe.
Lyon are attempting to win their first domestic crown since 2008, and a win against a potential rival for the title would be a big step towards achieving that goal.
Rennes Ligue 1 form: LWWWWD
Rennes form (all competitions): LWWWWD
Lyon Ligue 1 form: WWDWWW
Team News
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Wonderkid Eduardo Camavinga has been relegated to the bench in Rennes's last two outings due to the impressive form of Clement Grenier, and the youngster may have to make do with another bit-part role at the weekend.
Centre-forward Serhou Guirassy is the only absentee for Stephan, with the 24-year-old suffering from an ankle injury.
Experienced centre-back Marcelo has served his one-match suspension and should return to the starting lineup at the expense of Sinaly Diomande for this one.
Toko Ekambi, who has nine goals and five assists for Lyon this season, and Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes have tested positive for coronavirus and are self-isolating.
Former Fulham and Celtic striker Moussa Dembele is a long-term absentee with a broken arm and will once again be on the sidelines on Saturday.
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Gomis; Traore, Aguerd, Da Silva, Truffert; Nzonzi, Grenier, Bourigeaud; Doku, Niang, Terrier
Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lopes; Dubois, Marcelo, Denayer, De Sciglio; Mendes, Aouar, Paqueta; Cornet, Depay, Kadewere
We say: Rennes 2-2 Lyon
These are two evenly matched teams in top form, and neither side will want to let the other gain an advantage. Lyon have been scoring freely of late, and keeping the likes of Depay quiet will be a tough ask for Rennes, but they should have enough firepower in their own squad to find a reply and take home a share of the spoils.
Top betting tip
George Cannon
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 Lyon win with a probability of 40.83%. A win for Rennes had a probability of 32.78% and a draw had a probability of 26.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Lyon win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.42%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.64%) and 0-2 (7.17%). The likeliest Rennes win was 1-0 (9.13%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.55%). The actual scoreline of 2-2 was predicted with a 5.2% likelihood.
