Sunday's French Ligue 1 predictions and free football tips: Ruthless Rennes to make a positive start

Best bets

Rennes to win & over 2.5 goals v Metz
TNT Sports 1, 4.05pm Sunday
2pts 11-10 general

Brest or draw double chance v Lens
2pm Sunday
1pt 5-6 general

Sunday's European football predictions

Rennes were ruthless at Roazhon Park last season, winning 15 of their 19 Ligue 1 home games, and Bruno Genesio’s side will expect to get the new Ligue 1 season off to a winning start in those familiar surroundings on Sunday.

Newly promoted Metz are the Breton's first visitors of the season, a team Rennes thumped 6-1 in Brittany in March 2022 having earlier recorded an effortless 3-0 success on the road.

Rennes finished fourth in Ligue 1 last season but some strong summer recruitment, featuring the arrivals of Lorient playmaker Enzo Le Fee and Nantes’s assist-king Ludovic Blas, suggest they are capable of building on that effort.

Genesio has retained the services of attacking talents Amine Gouiri and Martin Terrier, meaning the goals should continue to flow for a free-scoring Rennes outfit.

The Bretons plundered 43 goals in 19 home assignments last term and 12 of their 15 wins on their own patch featured at least three goals.

Lens chased home Paris St-Germain in Ligue 1 last season but they may struggle to pick up from where they left off at Brest.

Franck Haise’s side won 11 of their final 12 games to finish as runners-up to the Parisian powerhouses but Lois Openda and Seko Fofana, their two leading scorers from last season, have both seen their efforts rewarded with big-money moves.

That could take some adjusting to and a trip to Brest, who won five of their final six home games last term and also frustrated Lens to a 1-1 draw in February, isn't the easiest opening assignment.

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