Rennes vs Marseille

The new Ligue 1 campaign gets underway on Friday night at Roazhon Park, when Rennes host last season’s runners-up Marseille.

It was another disappointing campaign for Rennes, who had to spend heavily to be sure of survival, while Marseille’s gamble on Roberto De Zerbi paid off, as they earned Champions League qualification.

Match preview

After finishing in the top six four seasons running between 2019-20 and 2022-23, Rennes have now suffered back-to-back bottom-half finishes in Ligue 1, with last season proving to be their worst in over a decade.

A switch to Jorge Sampaoli in the first half of the campaign backfired spectacularly, and mass spending was required in January, as well as the appointment of Habib Beye, to steer them away from trouble.

Rennes secured safety with plenty of time to spare, but the club had become accustomed to competing for Europe, so finishing 12th will not be accepted this time around in Beye’s first full season in charge.

The former defender had a positive impact when arriving as manager, winning eight of their final 15 matches – form which would have had them in European contention when taken in isolation.

A fast start will be on the agenda, and Rennes have won both of their previous two opening matches, but they have had a slightly stuttering preseason, winning just one of their six friendlies.

It is a tricky start for the hosts too, as they face a Marseille side who have beaten them in four of the last five meetings, including in both fixtures last season, where OM won 4-2 on the final day.

That win secured a second-place finish for De Zerbi in his first campaign at the helm, doing about as much as they possibly could behind runaway champions Paris Saint-Germain.

De Zerbi was honest throughout the campaign, saying there was no chance of them competing for the title, even when it was relatively close early in the season, and the 19-point gap between them and first place shows the Italian was correct with his prediction.

Finishing second represented a huge improvement on the previous campaign though, when Marseille came eighth and missed out on Europe altogether, so a welcome return to the Champions League means it was a successful season for the club.

Closing the gap on the greatest PSG side of all time will be an arduous task, but a fast start following a healthy pre-season programme could be helpful, given their bitter rivals have had a busy summer playing in the Club World Cup.

Marseille have won on the opening day in each of the last five seasons, and beat Aston Villa 3-1 in an impressive display last weekend, so De Zerbi’s men should be full of confidence ahead of this season opener.

Rennes Preseason form

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Marseille Preseason form:

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Team News

After missing Rennes’ final friendly, centre-back Lilian Brassier is a doubt with injury, after making his loan move from Brest permanent.

There have been further additions to the squad this summer, with Quentin Merlin and Valentin Rongier both set to make their debuts against the club they left over the summer, while former Lens wing-back Przemyslaw Frankowski has arrived on loan from Galatasaray.

However, there has been some significant outgoings too, including Kyogo Furuhashi just six months after joining the club, as well as Azor Matusiwa, who has also left for the Championship, and Kazeem Olaigbe.

Igor Paixao has been the biggest non-PSG signing in Ligue 1 this summer, but the Brazilian is a doubt for this one having missed all of preseason since moving from Feyenoord.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is back at the club after a season in Saudi Arabia, and he will hope to replicate the 17-goal season he enjoyed in 2023-24, alongside last season’s joint-top scorer in Ligue 1, Mason Greenwood.

Two loanees could also make their Marseille debuts here, as defender Facundo Medina has arrived from Lens, and Timothy Weah has followed in his father George’s footsteps by joining the club.

Rennes possible starting lineup:

Samba; Faye, Jacquet, Rouault; Frankowski, Fofana, Cisse, Rongier, Merlin; Tamari, Meite

Marseille possible starting lineup:

Rulli; Murillo, Medina, Balerdi, Garcia; Hojbjerg, Rabiot, Gomes; Greenwood, Aubameyang, Gouiri

We say: Rennes 1-3 Marseille

Marseille were an entertaining watch last season, netting 74 goals in 34 games, and with even more attacking quality being added over the summer, expect another strong offensive display.

Rennes spent heavily in January in a desperate attempt to move away from trouble, and that should help them push further up the table this season, but this is a difficult assignment to begin the new campaign with.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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