Rennes vs Lille: Boulaye Dia carries Rennes' goals with Lepaul doubtful
- Kick-off
- Venue
- Roazhon Park, Rennes
Our call: Rennes win 2–1
Rennes have been hard to play at Roazhon Park, and Boulaye Dia gives them the goal Lille struggle to stop away from home.
We'll mark this call after full time.
Logged 6 Nov, 07:13 UTC, never edited.
In 30 seconds
- Lille are 2nd on 18 points, Rennes 5th on 16: a home win takes Rennes above them.
- Rennes are likely to be without Estéban Lepaul, still recovering from an ankle sprain; Lille have Ethan Mbappé back.
- Lille are second, but they have not won any of their last four away games, and Roazhon Park is a hard place to start.
The story
Second plays fifth at Roazhon Park on Sun 8 Nov, and the gap is two points. Franck Haise's Rennes have made their own ground a hard place to visit lately: in their last four games there they won three and drew one, scoring nine and letting in two. The latest was a 0–0 with Olympiakos in the Europa League on Wed 4 Nov, five days after a 5–2 defeat at Nice. Haise called the 0–0 "un bon point", a good point.
Davide Ancelotti's Lille travel less well. They have not won any of their last four away games: beaten at Nice and at Arsenal, held at Monaco, and a goalless draw at Bodø/Glimt on Tue 3 Nov that gave them their first point in the Champions League. At home they beat Lens 1–0 on Fri 30 Oct with a late goal from Olivier Giroud, who had come off the bench, and Ancelotti called it their "match le plus complet", their most complete game.
Lille have the better of this fixture lately. They won on their last two visits to Rennes, 2–0 in February 2025 and 2–1 in March 2026, although Rennes won 2–0 in Lille in January.
This decides it: Boulaye Dia against Lille's centre-backs, Nathan Ngoy among them. Dia is the man Rennes look to for goals. If Lille's back line keeps him quiet, a draw is there for Lille; if Dia gets one chance, Rennes have the home form to protect a lead.
Form
Both defeats came away from home.
Three draws in five, and one win.
The games, with scores
| Rennes | 4 Nov | v OlympiakosUEL | D 0–0 |
| 30 Oct | at NiceL1 | L 2–5 | |
| 25 Oct | v StrasbourgL1 | W 3–0 | |
| 22 Oct | at JuventusUEL | D 2–2 | |
| 18 Oct | at Paris FCL1 | L 3–4 | |
| Lille | 3 Nov | at Bodø/GlimtUCL | D 0–0 |
| 30 Oct | v LensL1 | W 1–0 | |
| 25 Oct | at MonacoL1 | D 1–1 | |
| 21 Oct | v GalatasarayUCL | L 2–4 | |
| 17 Oct | v BrestL1 | D 1–1 |
Latest first. Latest on the left. L1 = Ligue 1, UEL = Europa League, UCL = Champions League. OddsIntel match database, read 4 Nov 2026.
Team news
Checked Thu 5 Nov 17:30 UTC: ligue1.com (Giroud v Lens, 31 Oct; discipline decisions, 29 Oct), losc.fr (fixture details), Le Petit Lillois (Lille's absentees before Bodø, 2 Nov; both clubs' injury lists, 5 Nov), But! Football Club (Rennes' group before Olympiakos, 3 Nov, from ICI Armorique), footeo and maxifoot (Haise on Lepaul, 24 and 19 Oct). Reported means the club has not yet confirmed it for this match. Line-ups: confirmed about an hour before kick-off; they go under Updates. We don't publish guessed XIs.
Olivier Giroud, with 3 goals in Lille's last ten, was on the bench at Bodø/Glimt. Ethan Mbappé missed Bodø serving the last game of a Champions League ban; he started against Lens, so he is available here. Brice Samba is back in Rennes' goal after a thigh injury.
Lille 4-2-3-1 · at Bodø/Glimt, 3 Nov
- Özer
- CossierNgoy (key battle)NianzouVerdonk
- MukauAndré
- BakwaKjærgaardHaraldsson
- Diaoune
- TamariDia (key battle)
- Szymański
- NagidaCamaraThomassonReynolds
- CresswellOliveiraRouault
- Samba
Rennes 3-4-1-2 · v Olympiakos, 4 Nov
Both last XIs on a pitch
Lille 4-2-3-1 · at Bodø/Glimt, 3 Nov
- Özer
- CossierNgoy (key battle)NianzouVerdonk
- MukauAndré
- BakwaKjærgaardHaraldsson
- Diaoune
- TamariDia (key battle)
- Szymański
- NagidaCamaraThomassonReynolds
- CresswellOliveiraRouault
- Samba
Rennes 3-4-1-2 · v Olympiakos, 4 Nov
Who to watch
The duel to watch: Boulaye Dia against Nathan Ngoy. Dia started up front against Olympiakos; Ngoy started in the middle of Lille's back four at Bodø/Glimt. Lille have let in fewer goals than Rennes in their last ten games, and Dia is the player who has to find a way through.
Rennes
Boulaye Dia
Rennes' top scorer in their last ten, and the one they lean on for goals.
- 5
- goals, Rennes' last 10
Rennes
Sebastian Szymański
Played behind the two strikers against Olympiakos.
- 3
- goals, Rennes' last 10
Lille
Olivier Giroud
Lille's top scorer in their last ten, and the substitute who settled the derby with Lens.
- 3
- goals, Lille's last 10
Player goals count only where we hold a named scorer: each side's last ten games, all competitions. OddsIntel match database, read 4 Nov 2026.
Head-to-head
We hold six meetings since 2023 and show the newest five: Rennes won one, drew one and lost three.
All 5 meetings
Result for Rennes. The newest five of six meetings held since 2023. OddsIntel match database, read 4 Nov 2026.
Rennes' one win in these five came away, 2–0 in Lille on Sat 3 Jan 2026. At home they have lost both of the last two, and Lille scored twice each time.
Numbers that matter
Goals scored, last ten: Rennes 16, Lille 11 (higher is better)
Rennes score more, and Dia and Lepaul have nine of their goals between them.
Goals conceded, last ten · fewer is better: Rennes 18, Lille 12 (lower is better)
Rennes let in four or more three times: at Lyon, at Paris FC and at Nice.
Clean sheets, last ten: Rennes 3, Lille 4 (higher is better)
The surprise: Rennes' three include both European draws at 0–0, at Sturm Graz and against Olympiakos.
Last ten games each, all competitions (each includes one club friendly on 2 Oct). OddsIntel match database, read 4 Nov 2026.
Our call, explained
Our call: Rennes win 2–1. Lille are above Rennes for good reasons, with four clean sheets in their last ten. But Rennes have won three and drawn one of their last four at Roazhon Park, and Lille have scored twice in their last four away games. We expect Rennes to start fast, Dia to get the first goal, and Lille to answer through Giroud or Ethan Mbappé, both available. The difference is that Rennes have more ways to score, with Szymański arriving from midfield, and Lille need a lot to go right to score twice away from home. Rennes also have a day less to recover from Europe than Lille (Wed 4 Nov against Tue 3 Nov), which is the one thing that worries us.
Where this could go wrong. Rennes let in five at Nice on Fri 30 Oct, and if their back three is as open as it was there, Lille have the forwards to win it, as they did at Roazhon Park on Sun 15 Mar 2026. The other way, if Rennes score early and Lille have to chase the game, the home side could win more comfortably than 2–1; and with three draws in Lille's last ten, a 1–1 is the likelier miss.
Updates
Nothing has changed since we published. Next: Haise's and Ancelotti's press conferences, news on Lepaul and Ueda, and both confirmed team sheets about an hour before kick-off.
Data note: results, scorers, the table and line-ups from our database, read 4 Nov 19:10 UTC, so the counts include Lille's game at Bodø/Glimt on 3 Nov and Rennes' against Olympiakos on 4 Nov. Every goal in both sides' last ten has a named scorer in our lists. Team news and match details from ligue1.com, losc.fr, Le Petit Lillois, But! Football Club, footeo, maxifoot, Eurosport and ICI Armorique.
Our call was timestamped by an independent service before kick-off, Fri 6 Nov, 07:20 UTC.
How the timestamp works
Timestamped before kick-off by an independent service (DigiCert, RFC 3161), Fri 6 Nov, 07:20 UTC. The call file is the exact version that was timestamped. The file with our call and its timestamp token: call file · timestamp. Its fingerprint (sha256):
0db3e8769bdfab6f091bcf8ef1270c3727af8c8fd027b8933331fc5a5c599cc7
Our calls so far
- calls right
- 36/60
- home win every time
- 27/60