Given that Rennes have been capable of both the best and the worst this season, it's difficult to know what exactly lies in store for Paris Saint-Germain tomorrow night. Following a turbulent run of four straight defeats across all competitions, Les Rouge et Noir have just parted ways with their manager, Habib Beye. Paradoxically, though, they currently sit sixth in the Ligue 1 table, just two points behind fifth-placed Lille, and therefore remain firmly in the race for Europe.
Meanwhile, Les Parisiens are on top form in the league right now, with seven wins from their last seven games in the French top flight. Strangely enough, this streak began with a 5-0 thrashing of Rennes last December and was most recently extended by another 5-0 victory, this time over Marseille in Le Classique last weekend. With Lens hot on their heels, however, Les Rouge et Bleu have no choice but to keep up this pace in order to stay at the top of the domestic standings.
1 – Stade Rennais FC have scored at least once in each of their last 10 games at home to Paris Saint-Germain across all competitions, bagging a total of 13 goals in that time.
5 – Ousmane Dembélé, who is once again set to cross paths with the club that developed him tomorrow, has been involved in five goals in as many Ligue 1 matches against Rennes, scoring two and assisting in three.
10 – With ten long-range goals, Luis Enrique's men have found the back of the net from outside the box more often than any other team in Ligue 1 this season, while no side has netted fewer goals of this kind than Rennes (one).
The Rennes coaching staff will probably switch back to Brice Samba as their first-choice goalkeeper tomorrow, having sidelined him last week in favour of Mathys Silistrie, who is perhaps not quite ready to fill the number-one spot just yet. In front of the France international, his 20-year-old compatriot Jérémy Jacquet, who is due to join Liverpool this summer, has picked up a shoulder injury and is therefore likely to miss this game against Paris. As for Abdelhamid Aït Boudlal, the Moroccan injured his thigh against Lens and is also expected to be absent tomorrow night as a result.
There's no shortage of quality at centre-back for SRFC, though, as former Stuttgart defender Anthony Rouault should be able to take his teammate's place, with ex-Marseille man Lilian Brassier and Ghana international Alidu Seidu expected to start alongside him in a three-man central defence, thereby freeing up the right-back position. Although Przemysław Frankowski may fall just short of a starting spot in this position, winter loan signing Arnaud Nordin will probably be the one to replace him if so, while at left-back, Quentin Merlin appears to be a safer bet than Jordan international Mousa Al-Tamari, making the former Nantes player the favourite to take on this role.
In midfield, Glen Kamara has been ruled out of action by injury, meaning that France under-21 international Djaoui Cissé is in the running for a place in his side's starting XI alongside the indispensable Valentin Rongier and Mahdi Camara, which would make for a highly industrious midfield trio. That being said, don't rule out Ludovic Blas and recent signing Sebastian Szymański as alternative options for the Rennes coaching staff to ponder.
Finally, up front, Estéban Lepaul will obviously be one of Les Rouge et Noir's main assets. With 10 goals and three assists to his name in Ligue 1 this season, the former Angers striker is forming an electric partnership with Switzerland international Breel Embolo, who boasts seven goals and two assists across all competitions in 2025–2026 so far. Meanwhile, having arrived in Brittany just a few days ago, the promising 20-year-old Yassir Zabiri may well make his Ligue 1 debut at some point tomorrow evening.
