Lorient vs Rennes: Ligue 1 Prediction (24.08.2025)

On August 24, 2025, at 15:00 CEST, the second round of the French Ligue 1 will feature a clash between Lorient and Rennes. Bookmakers see the teams as roughly equal in strength, which is reflected in the odds. Let’s examine the current form of both sides and give our prediction for the game.

Lorient

Lorient confidently navigated last season in Ligue 2, earning direct promotion and reclaiming their place in the top tier of French football. For Olivier Pantaloni’s team, this was the logical outcome of stable performances throughout the campaign. Over the summer, “Les Merlus” tried to maintain their rhythm, playing a five-match preseason series, with their only defeat being a narrow 0–1 loss to Angers.

Of course, the level of their opponents wasn’t particularly high, but Lorient themselves were recently in the second division and are now ready to test themselves again against stronger sides. In the opening round, they faced Auxerre away. Lorient looked very solid, but their opponent was more clinical – resulting in a 0–1 defeat.

Rennes

Rennes endured a poor Ligue 1 campaign last season, finishing only 12th. This result matched their negative record from a decade ago – in 2014, the “Red and Blacks” also finished in 12th place. The contrast is especially stark compared to their recent successes: just three years ago, the club was firmly in the European spots and competing for Ligue 1 medals. Today, the trajectory is clear – Rennes are gradually slipping down the table, and stopping this decline is proving very difficult.

Preseason results were also disappointing – just one win in six matches. However, the season opener brought a major success. Rennes took all three points against a very strong opponent, Marseille (1–0). Notably, they played with ten men for over an hour and still managed to score the winning goal in stoppage time.

Head-to-head statistics

Lorient returned to Ligue 1 after a one-year absence in the second division. Before relegation, they had beaten Rennes in four consecutive matches. However, their year away from the top flight may significantly alter the balance of power.

Prediction

For the Lorient vs Rennes match, predicting the outright winner is difficult. Both teams showed promising performances at the start of the season, but both also struggled with finishing chances. Therefore, our pick is under 2.5 goals at odds of 1.87.