- 1 Nice vs Rennes: Franck Haise returns to the Allianz Riviera with the second-best side in Ligue 1
- 2 Nice: three straight games decided by one goal, and Clauss a doubt
- 3 Rennes: 22 goals in five games, and Lepaul’s ankle the only real worry
- 4 Free Ligue 1 Prediction: Nice vs Rennes
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
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- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Nice vs Rennes: Franck Haise returns to the Allianz Riviera with the second-best side in Ligue 1 
Rennes beat Strasbourg 3-0 on Sunday and went top of Ligue 1, if only for about a day. Boulaye Dia scored after a VAR check on 34 minutes, Szymański added two more, and it took Paris Saint-Germain’s 2-0 win over Lyon on Monday night to push Franck Haise’s side back down to second, one point behind.
Their trip to Nice was due to be played on Saturday, but the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture asked for it to be moved because of the protest movement planned across France that day, and it will now kick off on Friday 30 October at 19:00 in France, 18:00 UK time. The change has been described as provisional, so the slot should be checked again before the weekend.
Haise coached Nice before being replaced by Claude Puel in the middle of last season, and he was appointed at Rennes on 18 February 2026 after Habib Beye’s sacking. Puel kept Nice up and then left, and Olivier Pantaloni arrived from Lorient on 17 June to start a new project.
That project has produced three wins, two draws and three defeats so far. Nice are tenth on 11 points, with eight goals scored and ten conceded, while Rennes have 16 points from eight games, 18 goals scored and 14 conceded.
The numbers point to two very different types of game. Nice’s league matches have produced 18 goals in eight, and their last three all finished with exactly three goals. Every one of Rennes’ last five matches in all competitions had at least three goals, 22 in total.
Nice: three straight games decided by one goal, and Clauss a doubt 
Pantaloni’s side won 2-1 at Brest last Friday. Ajorque put Brest in front after 15 minutes, Elye Wahi equalised on 61 minutes, Sofiane Diop scored the winner late on, and Yehvann Diouf saved a stoppage-time penalty from Kenny Lala to protect the lead.
That result followed a 2-1 defeat at Lyon on 18 October, when Wahi scored first before Lyon replied twice in four minutes, and a 2-1 home win over Strasbourg on 11 October, settled by Jonathan Clauss nine minutes from time. All three games were decided by a single goal, which is typical of a side that has scored only eight league goals.
Wahi, on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt since 24 August, is the top scorer with three. Pantaloni has also brought in Axel Witsel on a free from Girona, Mohamed Amoura on loan from Wolfsburg and Gauthier Hein from Metz, and at Lyon he used a 3-4-2-1 with Hein and Amoura behind Wahi.
Clauss went off injured at Brest, and reports on Tuesday disagreed about the severity: one suggested an ankle sprain that could keep him out for a few weeks, another said there was no sprain and that he could train this week. Alidu Seidu, who started at Brest, can’t play against his parent club because of a clause in his loan from Rennes.
The longer-term absences are in defence and midfield. Antoine Mendy has a torn cruciate ligament, Moïse Bombito has had a second operation on his left leg, and Laurent Abergel, signed from Lorient in the summer, has been injured since early August. Nice aren’t in European competition this season, so Pantaloni has had a full week to prepare.
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Rennes: 22 goals in five games, and Lepaul’s ankle the only real worry 
Rennes have been involved in high-scoring games for most of October. They beat Auxerre 4-1 on 11 October, beat OFI Crete 2-1 in the Europa League four days later, then lost 4-3 at Paris FC, drew 2-2 in Turin against Juventus and beat Strasbourg 3-0. Every one of those five matches had at least three goals.
Esteban Lepaul scored a hat-trick in the defeat at Paris FC and leads Ligue 1 with seven goals, but he sprained an ankle in that game and missed both the Juventus draw and the Strasbourg win. Haise has said the injury isn’t serious and is assessing him day by day, so he’s a doubt for Friday rather than ruled out.
Without him, Dia, on loan from Lazio since 1 September, scored a penalty in Turin and the opener against Strasbourg, and has three league goals. Szymański also has three, and Al-Tamari scored against Juventus after 15 minutes.
Rennes sold Jacquet to Liverpool for €64 million on 1 July but added Thomasson on a free from Lens, Mayenda from Sunderland for €22 million and Dia on loan. The expected shape is a 3-5-2, with Brice Samba in goal behind Ait Boudlal, Cresswell and Rouault.
Fourteen goals conceded in eight league games is a lot for a side in second place, and at Paris FC they came from behind three times before losing to a stoppage-time penalty. The last meeting with Nice, on 8 March 2026, went the other way, a 4-0 Rennes win at the Allianz Riviera with Lepaul among the scorers.
Probable lineup Nice: Diouf; Mandza, Ndayishimiye, Abdelmonem; Clauss, Boudaoui, Witsel, Nkounkou; Hein, Amoura; Wahi.
Probable lineup Rennes: Samba; Ait Boudlal, Cresswell, Rouault; Frankowski, Szymański, Rongier, Camara, Nagida; Dia, Al-Tamari.
Free Ligue 1 Prediction: Nice vs Rennes
Our prediction: Over 2.5 goals (1.52)
Rennes’ last five games in all competitions have produced 22 goals, and none of them finished with fewer than three. Nice’s last three league games all finished 2-1. Over 2.5 goals is priced at around 1.52, and it’s the pick I’m most comfortable with in a match where the result market is close, with Rennes at 2.30 and Nice at 2.75.
The case against is Nice’s season as a whole: 18 goals in eight league games is a modest total, and Lepaul’s absence would take Rennes’ leading scorer out of the side. Even so, Rennes scored five in their two games without him, and their own defence has conceded 14 in eight.
The last two meetings produced 0-4 and 2-1, and Haise’s Rennes scored four on their last visit in March. Over 2.5 goals, at 1.52.
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