Nice VS Stade Rennais FC (Rennes)

Nice and Rennes lock horns in this French Ligue 1 round 34 battle at Allianz Riviera early late Saturday evening Beijing time. This is the fifth-best league in the world. Football enthusiasts and us football bettors can realistically expect a high-level battle between these two relatively good teams. My fans and I have done well betting on this league and we have yet another very lucrative betting opportunity here.  Earlier this week we won a bet on this league as well! The key factor analysing this match is motivation – and probable lack of it! Rannes should be massively motivated here! Indeed, they currently occupy the 6th place in this league with a total of 20 clubs. They still have an excellent chance of making it to the top-4. The 4th place would earn them a ticket for the UEFA Europa League group stage for next season. This would bring the club and the players a lot of money and a window to prove their skills against strong opponents from other countries. Nice, on the other hand, are having a mediocre season. Indeed, the hosts currently occupy the 9th place in the league table they do not have a realistic chance of qualifying even for the UEFA Conference League qualification (5th place) next season as Lille, in the 5th place, have 11 points more in the bank than Nice. The hosts have grabbed a total of 48 points but have been a little unlucky in terms of expected points (xPTS) though.. teams have just five more games to play this season.

Rennes have a very clear edge over the hosts in terms of offensive quality. They have netted the ball 55 times in this league so far this season. This is the same number as a very strong team, Lens, currently in 3rd place. Rennes have a solid offensive structure and several creative and individually skilled offensive players. I am not saying that Nice's offense is bad – they have scored 40 goals so far but they lack any potential for improvement. Their key to winning and taking points has often been the pretty solid defense. They have conceded just 31 goals – less than Rennes (36) in fact! However, I want to highlight that in terms of expected goals allowed (xGA) Nice have been lucky and should have allowed 37 or 38 goals. The biggest, pretty often relatively smart bookies that offer the biggest betting limits see the hosts as favorites here, offering them odds of around 2.55 to take all three points. This is too low – based on my sophisticated analysis the better by pure class and hugely motivated visitors deserve to be solid favorites! Nice have been in bad form lately winning just twice in their most recent matches! In their most recent match they did beat Troyes, a weak team currently in 18th place, away from home. Troyes will almost certainly be relegated. Yes, Nice deserve to win but Troyes were abysmal in this game! Before this they were very disappointing losing to Clermont 1-2 at home as very clear favorites – priced around 1.75 to win by the bookies. Rennes have looked much better on the pitch and comfortably beat Angers 4-2 at home in their latest game.