Lille vs Rennes 23/08/20

23 August 2020

Lille OSC and Rennes go head-to-head at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on the opening matchday of the 2020/21 Ligue 1 season.

Lille’s extensive off-season campaign saw them win two of five warm-up fixtures and lose the other three, with each of those results (wins/losses) seeing the winner on the day score precisely two goals. Yet, the hosts have enjoyed a stellar calendar year in the context of their Ligue 1 results. ‘Les Dogues’ have won six of eight top-flight matches since the turn of the year (L2), with five of those triumphs yielding a clean sheet. At home, none of Lille’s last ten competitive games has ended in a draw (W7, L3), with eight of those contests seeing the winner on the day keep a blank sheet and half (four) producing the identical 1-0 scoreline.

Meanwhile, the visitors did well in their off-season campaign, winning four of their six friendly matches (D1, L1), three of which yielded a clean sheet. Moreover, Rennes finished the last league season with a bang, putting together three victories, all of which saw them score two goals or more. The ‘clean-sheet’ theme remains quite significant, though, as all four of Rennes’ Ligue 1 away results in 2020 witnessed the winning side shut out the loser (W2, L2), with three featuring the same 1-0 FT score. It’ll be a daunting prospect for ‘Les Rouge et Noir’ to pick three points here, though, as they’ve managed just one win in 20 top-flight trips to Lille in the 21st century (D6, L13).