Rennes vs Lens

Rennes and Lens will lock horns at Roazhon Park in their 2021/22 Ligue 1 curtain-raiser this weekend.

Rennes eked out a sixth-place finish with a 2-0 home win over relegated Nimes on the final weekend of the 2020/21 season to secure a place in the Europa Conference League. Though that represents a markdown on a third-place finish in 2019/22, Rennes will be keen on mimicking a promising seven-game unbeaten start to the previous league campaign (W3, D4). Worryingly, though, ‘Les Rennais‘ tend to falter on Matchday 1, as witnessed by a return of one win from their last seven Ligue 1 openers (D2, L4). Yet, it’s worth noting each such encounter came away from home. Blessed with the privilege of kicking off the new league campaign at home turf, Rennes will be looking to invoke the memory of a 2-1 win over Reims in 2013/14, their last home Ligue 1 opener.

On the other hand, Lens ended their last league campaign in abysmal form, failing to win any of their final four Ligue 1 fixtures (D1, L3), three of which saw them draw a blank. Before a sloppy tail-end of the season, the visitors had enjoyed a remarkable 13-match unbeaten league streak (W6, D7). But considering it was their first top-flight season following a five-year hiatus, a seventh-place finish can provide Lens a good starting point this time around. Despite opening the 2020/21 season with an away loss to Nice, ‘Sang et Or‘ bounce back to win four out of five Ligue 1 games (D1), something they’d be glad to replicate now. Lens’ defensive woes require an improvement as they take the field after failing to keep a clean sheet in eight straight Ligue 1 trips.