Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the Ligue 1 match.
Stade Rennais
Stade Rennais also look in decent shape. Their defensive statistics are less convincing — five conceded already — but most of that damage came in the heavy away defeat to Lorient (0:4). Was that loss anticipated? Pre‑match expectation was for a balanced game rather than a one‑sided affair. In the other two fixtures there was no clear margin in the end. First came a win over Olympique de Marseille (1:0) — commendably keeping Pierre‑Emerick Aubameyang and the rest quiet — and then it finished 1:1 against Angers SCO.
Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Lyonnais, for their part, just beat Olympique de Marseille in the previous round (1:0). They had to wait until the 87th minute for Pavel Sulc to force the ball into Olympique de Marseille’s net. Across the game they were clearly superior: 18-5 on shots, and 6-2 both for shots on target and big chances. It should have been a wider margin according to the statistics (3.04-0.77 in xG), but the finishing let them down. Unless the opposition are clear underdogs such as Metz (3:0), there has not been a notable margin in the scoreline for Olympique Lyonnais. Lens were also beaten by a single goal (1:0).
Stade Rennais vs Olympique Lyonnais Prediction
In the 2024/25 season the sides traded home routs, with Stade Rennais winning 3:0 and Olympique Lyonnais winning 4:1. We do not expect such a heavy defeat for the visitors now, but a one‑goal victory for either side looks entirely plausible.
