Week 9 of the Ligue 1 continues with a match between two teams who have failed to find their best form this season, and would be looking for a positive result on Saturday to get their campaign back on track
Defending champions, Montpellier, are finding it hard to manage playing on more than one front this season. With Champions League football and injuries to a number of key players, things aren’t looking good for La Paillade as they prepare to travel to Route
de Lorient seeking their third win of the 2012/2013 Ligue 1 campaign.
With just 8 points on the table after 8 games, the reigning French champions would be hoping to avoid any unpleasant result on Saturday, in order to revive their hopes of defending their Ligue 1 crown. However, Stade Rennais will try everything in their
hands to stop that from happening.
Rennes come into this match with just 10 points on the table and are currently 11th in the league. Following a shaky start to the season, Les Rouges et Noirs have performed relatively better lately and have put together a three-match unbeaten
run in the league.
However, coach, Frederic Antonetti still has a http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Job-c18684 to do and the witty tactician knows very well that Rennes can’t afford to lose a game of such magnitude at this stage of the season. But the main problem the coach is facing at the moment is the absence
of two star players, Yann M’Vila and Chris Mavinga, who have been banned the French Football Association, after they were caught on a night out whilst on duty with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 Under-21.
And, Stade Rennais also chose to ban the duo from participating in the first-team activities until further notice.
The Rennes coach is far from pleased with the situations and feels that the pair has let everyone down by their unprofessional behaviour.
“They showed they were not reliable. They endangered their friends, their team, everyone. This is where it's serious.” the 51-year-old told reporters at a press conference.
Team News
Stade Rennais
The visitors are without Yann M’Vila and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pierre-c29989 Dreossi.
Other than that, Antonetti has a full fledge squad at his disposal for the match against the defending champions.
Montpellier Herault
Rene Girard is without captain, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, who is on the sidelines because of a hamstring injury. In addition to that, the reigning champions cannot call upon influential forward, Karim Ait-Fana, who has failed to recover in time for the Rennes game.
Players to watch
Mevlut Erdinc – Rennes
The http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Turkey-c3026 international has been in fine form for Les Rouges et Noirs this season and the hosts would once again look to the striker for inspiration against Montpellier. The 25-year-old has the ability to score goals from nowhere and Montpellier would be
marking him very closely to counter the threat posed by the former Paris Saint-Germain player.
Younes Belhanda – Montpellier
The http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Morocco-c2961 international is one of the best players in the league in his position and is certain to cause the hosts all kinds of trouble on Saturday. Meanwhile, Rennes would be hoping to stop the midfielder in order to get a favourable result on Route de
Lorient.
Prediction
Both teams are in dire need of points adding more significance to the Saturday’s clash. However, it is hard to predict the outcome of the game.
Final Predicted Score: Stade Rennais 1-1 Montpellier Herault
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