Rennes – Saint-Etienne

Rennes’ odds of success seem too low

In the 35th round match of the French championship, Rennes will play St Etienne at home. The match promises to be very entertaining and productive. Both teams have important tournament challenges ahead of them. Rennes are in third place in Ligue 1 and trying to keep up with Marseille who are already six points ahead of them. But the Bretons are more threatened by their pursuers. Rennes is level on points with Monaco and just two points behind Strasbourg and Nice. So, not only can Rennes fail to clinch a place in the Champions League, but they might even drop out of the Eurocup zone. Saint-Etienne are in no less of a difficult position. "The Greens are in the play-off zone, they are only four points ahead of Bordeaux, who are in the relegation zone. At the same time, teams in the safe zone are nearby. Troyes and Clermont are only two points away, Lorient three and Angers four. That means that Saint-Etienne have a good chance to guarantee their place in Ligue 1. But they will need to get a result for that. Both Rennes and Saint-Etienne are trying to get results through open play and focus on attack. Rennes has one of the best attacks in Ligue 1 and their combination play is excellent. Terrier, Bourigault and Laborde will tear down any defence. Last weekend, Rennes easily demolished Lorient 5-0, making up for two straight defeats to Strasbourg and Monaco. Rennes, having been so preoccupied with attacking moves, often suffer defensive mistakes which their opponents can exploit. Saint-Etienne play in a similar fashion. And the imbalance is even more pronounced for the Greens. They do not have the same class of performers in attack, and they have enough problems in defense. Therefore, on the last matchday Saint-Etienne lost at home to Monaco 1-4, before that there was a draw with Bordeaux (2-2), the victory over Brest (2-1) and heavy defeats from Lorient (2-6) and Marseille (2-4). Saint-Etienne seem to score a lot for a a team that fighting for survival, but they concede even more. Interestingly, in the first match ended in a dramatic defeat. At the time, Rennes were beaten 5-0. Terrier has a total of 21 goals this season and is tied with Mbappe and Ben Yedder for the league's top scorer.