Rennes will close out their 2020-21 Ligue 1 season on Sunday when they host Nimes at Stade de la Route de Lorient.
The highest Les Rennais can finish is sixth, as they currently sit a point back of Lens for that spot, while Nimes will savour one last match in the French top flight before they drop down to Ligue 2 next season.
Match preview
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After finishing third in the table a season ago and qualifying for the Champions League for the first time, the expectations were exceptionally high for the side from Brittany this season.
The team have failed to meet those expectations for much of this campaign, failing to win a single match in their Champions League group, losing out in the round-of-64 in the Coupe de France and guaranteed to finish no better than sixth in Ligue 1, which would be three places below their 2020 finish.
A series of nine consecutive matches without a win in all competitions was enough for the front office to dismiss manager Julien Stephan and replace him with Bruno Genesio.
After 10 matches, it remains to be seen whether or not this team have looked any better with Genesio at the helm, as Stade Rennais have won five games while losing three.
As bad as the season has been at times, a win on Sunday could give them some positives heading into their next campaign, as a victory would bump them up to 58 points, which would be their highest points total after 38 games since 2017-18 when they earned the same number of points.
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With one match to go, Pascal Plancque and Nimes know they did not do enough to salvage their season, as they will be in Ligue 2 following their game on Sunday.
Dropping out of the French top flight is a familiar feeling for Les Crocodiles, who have been relegated from Ligue 1 in four of their last seven seasons.
Consistency has been a big problem for this side as they have not won back-to-back league games since February, when they won three in a row.
They have not maintained a high level of play throughout the long season, winning only one of their last seven Ligue 1 fixtures after upsetting league leaders Lille on matchday 30.
They have conceded in all but one of their league games since March, giving up the second-most number of goals in the league this season with 69, only four fewer than Dijon, who are also going down to Ligue 2.
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Team News
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Central midfielder Jonas Martin is expected to miss the final match of the season with an injury.
Defender Damien Da Silva is suspended after being red carded late in their 2-1 defeat at Monaco last week.
Leading goalscorer Martin Terrier is goalless in his last three games, and he will hope to end the season with double digits in goals, currently sitting on nine.
Nimes are unlikely to have Pablo Martinez or Anthony Briancon available for their final match, as Martinez is nursing a knee injury, while Briancon has a muscle problem.
Goalkeeper Baptiste Reynet was under siege last week, facing 13 shots from Lyon, but he has had an impressive season with eight clean sheets, which puts him in the top 10 among Ligue 1 keepers.
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Gomis; Maouassa, Aguerd, Nyamsi, Traore; Tait, N'Zonzi, Camavinga; Bourigeaud, Terrier, Doku
Nimes possible starting lineup:
Reynet; Burner, Ueda, Landre, Meling; Cubas, Fomba; Eliasson, Ripart, Ferhat; Kone
We say: Rennes 2-0 Nimes
Rennes are unbeaten in their last four encounters at home against Les Crocodiles, while Nimes have only beaten them once in their previous nine matches.
Stade Rennais have a lot more consistency to their game and have been able to keep their games close, whereas Nimes have failed to stay close in several games, losing seven times by three goals or more.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
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 54.13%. A draw had a probability of 23.8% and a win for Nimes had a probability of 22.06%.
The most likely scoreline for a Rennes win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.22%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.75%) and 2-0 (9.67%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.31%), while for a Nimes win it was 0-1 (6.57%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 9.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Rennes would win this match.
