Rennes – Marseille

Rennes and Marseille are capable of playing some productive football in a head-to-head encounter

On Matchday 37 of the French championship, Rennes will take on Marseille. The Bretons are only fifth in the table ahead of this fixture, but they are only six points behind second-placed Provençal, so the Eurocup zone density remains high and all teams in this group remain highly motivated. Nice and Monaco are between Rennes and Marseille, with Strasbourg just a couple of points behind Rennes and Lens four points behind. Rennes have both a chance of qualifying for next season's Champions League and a chance of being out of the European competitions altogether. The Bretons would have had better opportunities before the final rounds had they not unexpectedly lost to Nantes last match, who had won the French Cup before that and had no motivation in Ligue 1, where they are in the middle of the standings. Nevertheless, Rennes missed a lot of chances and Nantes showed excellent execution and won 2-1. Rennes will now be incredibly pissed off. Before the match against Nantes, Rennes won twice in a row without scoring, against Saint-Etienne (2-0) and Lorient (5-0). Rennes still have one of the strongest attacking groups in Ligue 1, so Marseille's defence will be in trouble. In addition, a whole group of Marseille players have health problems. The most significant loss will be the absolute leader Dimitri Payet, who is out for the rest of the season. Overall, however, this should not affect Marseille's level of organization of play - the team is in second place in Ligue 1 for a reason. On the previous round, the Provençal side easily defeated Lorient 3-0 on the road. In general, they have 12 away wins, with three draws and three defeats. Rennes have 13 wins at home, one draw and four defeats. In the last ten home matches, Rennes have won nine times and scored at least two goals in nine meetings. There is little to rival the power of that attack. That said, Marseille were 2-0 winners in the first leg. By then, however, Rennes had not yet fully developed.