Rennes v Metz

Rennes v Metz Preview

Rennes will head into this opening home game of this new Ligue 1 season in confident mood as they look to pick up where they left off at the end of the last French top flight campaign when they play host to Metz at their Roazhon Park on Sunday afternoon.

Rennes finished in fourth place in the Ligue 1 standings and also claimed a European spot in the shape of the Europa League following four wins on the trot which helped the hosts up into the top four of the division.

Victories against Troyes, Ajaccio, Monaco and Brest were impressive enough in their own right but Rennes also impressed even further on home soil last term as the hosts captured no fewer than 15 wins out of their 19 home games played in total, with only Lens (17 wins in 19 matches) racking up more home wins than Rennes.

However, if there was a slight chink in Rennes' armour it appeared in the latter stages of the season at home where the hosts suffered losses in their own backyard to Lille, Marseille and Lens and this may just give Metz reason to believe that they can spring an early surprise in the French top flight on Sunday.

Onto Metz, and the visitors once again return for this season's Ligue 1 campaign after sealing automatic promotion from Ligue 2 at the end of last season, finishing runners-up behind the Ligue 2 champions, Le Havre, but only two teams are promoted from the French second tier as Ligue 1 shrinks to 18 teams this season.

Last season was a welcome solid and impressive campaign for Metz who produced an excellent 22-match unbeaten run in all competitions which undoubtedly helped them on their way back to the domestic big time for this new season.

Furthermore, Metz have also enjoyed an unbeaten period in their pre-season friendlies as the visitors have picked up four wins in their six warm-up matches and includes victories over Racing Union Luxembourg, RFC Seraing, Troyes and Heerenveen, and these will give Metz plenty of confidence ahead of this opening fixture at Roazhon Park.

Rennes v Metz Verdict

Rennes displayed a possible weakness at home towards the end of the previous campaign and it may just work in Metz's favour that they come up against last season's high-fliers early on in this new term, especially as Metz are unbeaten in their last 14 outings on the road overall, and in turn achieving seven clean sheets in the process.

Rennes have won the last four meetings on the trot against Metz but the hosts might find their visitors a tougher prospect this time around when they clash at Roazhon Park with a precious three points at stake for both clubs.

Therefore, our main bet will be Both Teams To Score No @ 1.75

Other side bets worth considering:

Under 2.5 goals @ 2.10

Metz win @ 7.50