Strasbourg vs Rennes Prediction & Betting Tips (25 August)

Passed under the American flag last summer, Strasbourg has not yet entered another dimension in sporting terms. On the contrary, Racing is coming out of a rather disappointing season which ended in a rather worrying 13th place in the final with only 39 points taken in 34 days. Expected to be in a better place this year, the Alsatians decided to part ways with Patrick Vieira to bring in Liam Rosenior who arrived at the end of preparation. This did not go very well for the Strasbourg side who were beaten by Friborg 2-3 and by Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-0 before the restart. Last Sunday, they were satisfied with a point during their trip to Montpellier 1-1. Opposite, Stade Rennais also ranked among the major disappointments of the last Ligue 1 exercise.

Moreover, for the first time in 7 years, the Breton club will not compete in any European competition this season after only taking 10th place in the previous year. In search of a rebound, the Rouge et Noir have profoundly modified their squad which is still under the orders of Julien Stéphan. Worrying against Guingamp in preparation, losing 3-0, the residents of Roazhon Park then recovered well against Real Sociedad 2-0 and Werder Bremen 2-1. And last Sunday, for their entry into the championship, they made short work of Lyon 3-0.

Strasbourg did a lot of cleaning up its squad by letting go the South African Mothiba (free), the veteran Gameiro (free), the valuable midfielder Sissoko (Bochum) and the often dismissed Aholou (Angers). Loaned by Chelsea, a satellite club, the young Brazilian Angelo returned to England this summer unlike Andrey Santos who will do a new freelance with Racing while midfielder Deminguet was loaned to FC Metz. Loaned elsewhere last year, goalkeeper Risser (Dijon), left back Sobol (Genk) and the promising Kandil (Annecy) will try to seize their chance this year. Also note the recruitments of goalkeeper Johnsson (Bordeaux), full-back Guela Doué (Rennes), Caleb Wiley (Chelsea, loan), promising Sékou Mara (Southampton), and young midfielder Lemaréchal (Monaco). Not in the club's plans, senior defenders Delaine, Perrin and Guilbert should be sidelined. The starting goalkeeper at the end of last season Bellaarouch is in the recovery phase and he will miss this game. In addition, Serbian striker Lukovic (IMT Belgrade), other recruits Oscar Perea (Atletico Nacional), Lemaréchal (Monaco) and Pape Diong (AF Darou Salam) and striker Sahi Dion are all missing, injured. Against Montpellier, it was the young midfielder Diarra who scored the only Alsatian goal.

Rennes therefore experienced a big wave of departures this summer. Thus, the young midfielder Fairy (Roma), the Belocian (Bayer Leverkusen), the very good Terrier (7 goals, 3 assists), Swiss international Rieder (Stuttgart, loan), executive defender Theate (Eintracht Frankfurt, loan) and the Doué brothers, Guéla for Strasbourg and Désiré for PSG, have all left. Could still follow the young Turkish international Yildirim and the emblematic Bourigeaud. In the opposite direction, the Bretons were not inactive since the defender Jaouab (Amiens), midfielder Finnish Kamara (Leeds), Danish Gronbaek (Bodo/Glimt), central defender Ostigard (Naples), Welsh international midfielder James Jordan (Birmingham), the interesting piston Hans Hateboer (Atalanta), the young striker Henrik Meister (Sarsborg 08) and the Colombian U23 international striker Andres Gomez (13 goals and 7 assists with Salt Lake City last season in MLS) have all joined the Breton capital. On the other hand, Amine Gouiri (7 goals, 3 assists last year) is very present. He also scored against Les Gones in the same way as Bourigeaud and the rookie Meister.