Rennes make their return to Ligue 1 action on Friday when they welcome Bordeaux to the Roazhon Park for what promises to be a fascinating showdown.
The hosts occupy third spot in the table despite an alarming dip in form, whereas Bordeaux sit 12th having lost three of their last four matches.
Match preview
Julien Stephan must arrest a worrying Rennes slump as soon as possible, with Les Rouge et Noir gearing up for another hectic run of fixtures following the international break.
Rennes started the season with a huge amount of promise and did not take long to storm to the top of the rankings, but juggling domestic and Champions League football has clearly taken its toll on Stephan's men, who have won just one of their last seven games in all competitions.
Even then, that victory saw Rennes only just scrape past Brest 2-1, with Les Rouge et Noir's most recent encounter ending dismally as Paris Saint-Germain cruised to a 3-0 win against their fellow high-flyers.
Despite the absences of Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, PSG needed no second invitation to put the game to bed early on as Moise Kean and Angel Di Maria netted inside the opening 25 minutes, with the latter bagging a second late on to pile the misery on Rennes, who have hardly fared better in Europe either.
Stephan would have been thankful for the international break as a chance to reassess where things have been going wrong for Rennes in recent weeks, and the Ligue 1 outfit will welcome a talented Chelsea side to the Roazhon Park next Tuesday, so Les Rouge et Noir will no doubt be desperate to get off on the right foot against an equally underwhelming Bordeaux outfit.
Bordeaux's tenacious defence has lost its resolve in recent weeks, with Les Girondins shipping four against Monaco before suffering a lowly 2-0 home defeat to Montpellier before international football took centre stage.
Florent Mollet and Andy Delort both notched up goals in the second half to condemn Bordeaux to their first home loss of the 2020-21 campaign, with Jean-Louis Gasset seeing his normally reliable rearguard breached far too easily compared to the start of the season.
Six clean sheets from their opening 10 matches is still nothing to be sniffed at, but Bordeaux's troubles at the other end of the pitch are evident, with Les Girondins registering a mere nine goals so far.
To put that into context, basement side Dijon are the only other team in the French top flight not to hit double figures for the season, and the chances of Bordeaux breaking through next weekend against PSG are slim to none even with the champions' injury woes.
Gasset may not feel all that confident about his side's chances of scoring enough to beat Rennes either, as Bordeaux are winless in their last seven against Les Rouge et Noir, with a M'Baye Niang goal enough to see Rennes win this fixture 1-0 last season.
Rennes Ligue 1 form: WDDLWL
Rennes form (all competitions): DLLWLL
Bordeaux Ligue 1 form: DWLWLL
Team News
Real Madrid-linked Eduardo Camavinga, regarded as one of the hottest prospects in Europe, should be welcomed back to the Rennes team with open arms after struggling with injury recently.
The 18-year-old should replace James Lea Siliki in Stephan's midfield, while further changes from the PSG defeat could see Dalbert and Martin Terrier come in for Adrien Truffert and Yann Gboho respectively.
Dalbert is suspended for the Champions League so will surely start here despite recent criticism, although fellow defenders Daniele Rugani and Faitout Maouassa are both still recovering from injuries.
As for Bordeaux, Samuel Kalu has returned to training following a hamstring issue, but Friday's game is expected to come too soon for the Nigeria international.
Mexer is still injured and Pablo picked up his third booking of the season in the loss to Montpellier, meaning that Paul Baysse and Laurent Koscielny are set to form a centre-back pairing at the Roazhon Park.
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Gomis; Traore, Aguerd, Da Silva, Dalbert; Nzonzi, Camavinga, Bourigeaud; Doku, Guirassy, Terrier
Bordeaux possible starting lineup:
Costil; Sabaly, Baysse, Koscielny, Benito; Otavio, Basic; Oudin, Ben Arfa, De Preville; Maja
We say: Rennes 1-1 Bordeaux
Neither Rennes nor Bordeaux have covered themselves in glory over the past few weeks, but both managers would have used the international break to their advantage as Ligue 1 takes precedence over international football once more. Rennes will certainly have one eye on their impending Champions League clash with Chelsea and will not want to take too many risks in this one, so we expect Friday's clash to end all square.
