French Ligue 1 preview: Toulouse FC Vs http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Stade-Rennais-FC-c40612
After their surprising defeat at the hands of second division side Le Mans in the Coupe de la Ligue, Stade Rennais travel to Toulouse on October 30, 2011 in a Ligue 1 game.
Toulouse would be desperate to return to goalscoring form when they host Rennais at the Stadium Municipal. Les Pitchouns have not scored a single goal since early September. It has been 311 minutes since Alain Casanova’s men have found the back of the net
and the trend has to change.
The side from Brittany (Stade Rennais) are currently fifth in the Ligue 1 standings and so far this season, have lost just two games. Ahead of their Europa League encounter against Celtic in Glasgow, Frederic Antonetti’s side will be looking for a positive
result.
Frederic Antonetti naturally bemoaned his team’s lacklustre performance in the defeat at the hands of Le Mans. The Corsican admitted that the team was passive throughout the game and without any sort of motivation, the players’ effectiveness was almost non-existent.
“Did they want to go far in the Coupe de la Ligue? Apparently not! It was maybe, a match too many but it’s a shame to have been defeated. It was a game that we really should never have lost and we need to take some lessons from it,” said Antonetti in the
aftermath of the defeat.
The Bretons are facing a congested list of fixtures in which they have to play in three different competitions. The game against Toulouse would be the side’s sixth game in the month of October and then, they will play two more games in the first week of
November.
The month of October has been a mixed one to say the least for Rennais. They won two league games and lost to Lille in the start of October and also drew against Celtic at home.
So far this month, Rennais have conceded just two goals and summer signing from Sedan, Benoit Costil has been a major contributor to the side’s defence. The young keeper replaced http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nicolas-Douchez-c27810 who left for PSG and has done well in replacing the French
custodian.
Plotting Costil’s side is Toulouse FC who are just two points behind Stade Rennais in the league standings. Toulouse are currently in sixth place in the Ligue 1 standings with 19 points from 11 games and would be desperate to end their goalscoring drought
at the expense of Rennais.
Rennais on the other hand, are in fifth place in the Ligue 1 standings with 21 points from 11 games and chase league leaders Paris Saint-Germain by eight points and have a game in hand as PSG played this Saturday against Caen in a game that they won 4-2.
Team news
Toulouse FC
Defender http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Daniel-c9879 Congre are likely to be given starts.
Stade Rennais
Frederic Antonetti will have a fully-fit squad to choose from and would be looking to make the best out of the likes of Yann M’Vila, Youssef Hadji and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jonathan-Pitroipa-c19052.
Predictions
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Toulouse-FC-c40751 have an excellent home record against the Bretons but Stade Rennais’ recent form despite the cup defeat could pose serious problems for the Pink City side.
Predicted final score: Toulouse 0-1 Stade Rennais
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