Saint-Etienne and Rennes at the top of Ligue 1 after four days: few would have bet on it at the start of the season.
However, this Saturday (5 p.m.), the Greens receive the Bretons in a real shock at the top. Still undefeated (three wins and one draw), the two teams will be keen to continue their series in the Forez.
And if, on paper, the locals seem to leave with an advantage since they receive their opponents, the complete closed door of the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium delivered at the end of the week could reshuffle the cards.
As for the coaches, although the two leaders are opposed, this match will not mark a turning point in the season. “Four matches is nothing”, assures Claude Puel, the technician of the Greens when his Rennes counterpart, Julien Stéphan, explains that “the classification is anecdotal”.
Rennes without M’Baye Niang but not without a solution
If this same Stéphan insists on the fact that the Saint-Etienne team “has been very efficient since the start of the championship thanks to its dynamism, its generosity, its ability to play forward”, ASSE is also the best defense of the championship with only two goals conceded in four games; both against Nantes last Sunday (2-2).
On the Rennes side, M’Baye Niang, more than ever on the start, will not participate in the meeting, but Julien Stéphan will be able to count on many other elements which have already been decisive this season: Eduardo Camavinga, Steven Nzonzi, Adrien Truffert or Serhou Guirassy to name a few.
“So much the better that there are players who show their ability to be decisive. It also means that they go more and more into dangerous areas. We push them,” said Stéphan. “We play to score goals and everyone has the right to score. Everyone has the opportunity to attack, then you just have to compensate well to be balanced,” he said.