Preview: Angers vs. Rennes - prediction, team news, lineups

High-flying Angers face a difficult test on Sunday, as they prepare to host Rennes at the Stade Raymond Kopa.

While Angers were held to a 1-1 draw at Bordeaux last weekend, Rennes registered their first three points of the campaign as they posted a narrow 1-0 victory over Nantes.

Match preview

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Since their promotion to the French top flight in 2015, Angers have established themselves as a mid-table outfit, and will be confident of pushing for a top-half finish this season.

Remaining unbeaten in their three matches so far, having picked up seven points with two wins and a draw, Le Scoistes' strong start to the season suggests that they have their eyes set on honours this term.

After opening up their campaign with a comfortable 2-0 win over Strasbourg, Angers caused an upset in their subsequent fixture to easily see off a formidable Lyon outfit as they put three unanswered goals past the eight-time Ligue 1 champions.

However, their winning run was halted last time out by Bordeaux, who delivered a solid performance to hold Gerald Baticle's men to a 1-1 draw, with Angers' Romain Thomas rescuing a point for his side just before half time, after they had gone behind very early on.

Confidence is high in Le Scoistes' camp, and with the squad firing on all cylinders with six goals so far, not so many Ligue 1 sides will fancy a fixture against the second-placed team at the moment - though Rennes will have to take on this side on Sunday.

Bruno Genesio, who had once been assisted at Lyon by Angers' current head coach between 2015 and 2019, has made a positive impact at Rennes since his arrival in the dugout midway through the previous campaign.

He salvaged Les Rennais' faltering 2019-20 league campaign to propel them to a sixth-placed finish as they booked a ticket to the inaugural Europa Conference League playoffs, where they defeated Rosenborg BK with an aggregate scoreline of 5-1 to advance to the competition's group stage on Thursday.

With continental football already guaranteed for the term, Rennes can switch focus to Ligue 1, where they are unbeaten in their opening three games, a feat they have pulled off in each of the previous two seasons.

Following two consecutive draws, Genesio's men picked up their first win of the season on the last matchday against Nantes as Martin Terrier scored the only goal of the game to clinch maximum points.

Even though Rennes, who occupy fifth place in the table with five points, have won only two of their last 10 away games, they will take confidence in the fact that one of those victories came as recently as April - a comfortable 3-0 triumph.

Team News

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Despite making the bench in Angers' opening two games, Enzo Ebosse is not expected to be in the squad here as he faces fitness problems, while Farid El Melali is expected to miss the game through injury.

Stephane Bahoken may have impressed off the bench in the opening three games, but it is likely Baticle continues to leave him out of the starting lineup.

Amid speculation over his future at Rennes, with the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester United interested in his services, there are doubts surrounding Eduardo Camavinga's availability for this fixture.

Having arrived from Angers in the summer, Baptiste Santamaria is in line to be named in Les Rennais' starting XI to tackle his former club.

Genesio rested a number of key players for the Europa Conference League second-leg clash against Rosenborg and is likely to bring them back into the team for this match.

Rennes will be without the services of Euro 2020 star Jeremy Doku, Jeremy Gelin and Jonas Martin as the trio remain sidelined with injuries.

Angers possible starting lineup:
Bernardoni; Thomas, Traore, Manceau; Doumbia, Mangani, Mendy, Cabot; Fulgini; Boufal, Cho

Rennes possible starting lineup:
Gomis; Traore, Bade, Aguerd, Meling; Santamaria, Tait; Sulemana, Terrier, Bourigeaud; Guirassy

We say: Angers 1-1 Rennes

Given these two teams are equally matched on paper and have enjoyed respective solid starts to the Ligue 1 campaign, we are finding it quite difficult to separate them.

As we are expecting a cautious game with both sides wary of giving away their unbeaten record, the safest punt will be backing both sides to hit the target in a draw.