Angers will be looking to build on their opening-day victory over Dijon when they play host to Bordeaux for the second round of Ligue 1 fixtures.
On the other hand, Bordeaux's first game of the 2020-21 campaign ended in a goalless stalemate with Nantes last weekend.
Match preview
© Reuters
Angers got their 2020-21 Ligue 1 campaign off to the perfect start as they recorded a 1-0 win at Dijon last Saturday, with captain Ismael Traore bagging the winner for Stephane Moulin's men before half time.
However, the visitors did not cruise to victory by any means as Dijon's Aurelien Scheidler had two strikes ruled out for offside, but Angers nevertheless managed to hold on and take all three points on the opening weekend.
The aim for Angers this season will ultimately be a top-half finish following their 11th-placed standing upon the curtailment of the previous campaign, and Moulin's men are now returning to familiar surroundings where they won both of their final two fixtures last season.
As one of only four sides to prevail in the opening weekend, Angers currently lie fourth in the table after one game, but several of the division's top teams are yet to take to the field owing to coronavirus outbreaks and European exploits.
© Reuters
Meanwhile, Bordeaux's showdown with Nantes - the first game of the 2020-21 season - had all the makings of a closely-fought battle and there were no goals to be had in the campaign's curtain raiser.
While a goalless stalemate is hardly a good advertisement for the new Ligue 1 season, Bordeaux would have been satisfied with a point given that midfielder Mehdi Zerkane was sent off after just 20 minutes.
Jean-Louis Gasset's men gave a rather good account of themselves away from home last season and only suffered one defeat from their final five on the road - and even then Paris Saint-Germain just managed to edge a seven-goal thriller with Bordeaux back in February.
However, it was Angers who took the spoils in this fixture last season with a 3-1 victory, and Bordeaux have only managed to prevail once in their last nine meetings with Moulin's side across all competitions.
Angers Ligue 1 form: W
Bordeaux Ligue 1 form: D
Team News
© Reuters
Angers left-back Souleyman Doumbia had to be forced off in their opening-day victory over Dijon and is doubtful for this one, meaning Enzo Ebosse could be handed a start on Sunday.
The French outfit have also announced that midfielder Mathias Pereira Lage will be sidelined for at least six weeks with a shoulder problem after suffering an accident at his home.
Rayan Ait Nouri, who has supposedly caught the eye of Barcelona, missed the win over Dijon after contracting coronavirus and will not feature for this one either.
As for Bordeaux, Zerkane will watch from the sidelines owing to the red card he received against Nantes, so Ruben Pardo could come into the fold in the middle of the park.
Pablo and Yacine Adli are still injured for the visitors, who could also recall veteran striker Jimmy Briand to the starting lineup in place of Josh Maja.
Angers possible starting lineup:
Bernardoni; Bamba, Traore, Thomas, Ebosse; Santamaria; Thioub, Fulgini, Mangani, Capelle; Kanga
Bordeaux possible starting lineup:
Costil; Sabaly, Koscielny, Baysse, Poundje; Pardo, Otavio, Basic; Oudin, Briand, Preville
We say: Angers 0-1 Bordeaux
Despite being forced to play with 10 men for over 70 minutes against Nantes, Bordeaux's defence did incredibly well to preserve their side's clean sheet on the opening day. Angers well full value for their victory over Dijon but were riding their luck for large portions of the game, so we expect Bordeaux to scrape a narrow win in the second round of fixtures.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 2.5 goals 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.Under 2.5:dataData 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 Angers win with a probability of 38.63%. A win for Bordeaux had a probability of 33.56% and a draw had a probability of 27.8%.
The most likely scoreline for an Angers win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.55%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.11%) and 2-0 (7.15%). The likeliest Bordeaux win was 0-1 (10.58%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.09%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 6% likelihood.
