Facing Nice, the young defender Sacha Boey could know his first tenure in Ligue 1. - Loïc Venance / AFP

  • Third in the championship, Stade Rennais moves to the OGC Nice grounds this Friday evening.
  • Very solid defensively, the Bretons will have to do without Damien Da Silva and Hamari Traoré, both suspended.
  • To replace them, Julien Stéphan could trust Joris Gnagnon and the young Sacha Boey.

Less shiny but more solid. For many observers, this is the face displayed this season by Stade Rennais compared to that of last year. If Julien Stéphan has reservations about the first part of the report ("It's a different style, Raphinha is not Sarr, Tait is not Ben Arfa"), he can only validate the second. "It's stronger, much stronger," confirms the Rennes coach.

Third in the championship before moving to Nice this Friday, the Breton club is once again relying on a defensive serenity that it sometimes lacked during its bad streak this fall (ten games without a win). "The team block is much more compact than at the start of the season," analyzes the Rennes coach, who gave up his defense to five to return to a four-defender system.

Seven clean sheets over the last 10 games

After taking time to assert himself in the goals, notably the fault of a knee injury, Edouard Mendy has also been decisive in recent times. Over the last ten games, he has aligned seven clean sheets. "We are all defending together, so it is clear that we are conceding fewer opportunities and that it allows me to stay in my role to express myself and not be there to remind everyone what to do", recognized the interested party in early December in an interview with Ouest-France .

Since December 1, 2019, Stade Rennais has been:

- 14 goals scored for 6 goals conceded (+8)
- 9 Victories and 2 Defeats in 11 games played
- Best defense of France over the period (0.55 goal conceded / match) #SRFC #ToutDonner # emojibzh # GwennHaDu

- RED & ც lack 🅙 (@ C_lem7) January 20, 2020

Facing Nice, the fifth best attack in Ligue 1, Stade Rennais will therefore be keen to "maintain this solidity", underlines Julien Stéphan. But the Breton club will have to do without two of the pillars of its defense, Damien Da Silva and Hamari Traoré, both suspended. A blow "in a sector where the automatisms are very important" but that the Rennes coach had the time to anticipate.

Gnagnon and Boey to replace the suspended ones?

Holder against Nîmes and Athlético Marseille, Joris Gnagnon should thus quite logically replace Damien Da Silva in central defense. In the right lane, the young Sacha Boey, 19, could know his first tenure in Ligue 1, after having already been aligned in the 11 in the Europa League against Celtic and Lazio and in the League Cup against Amiens.

Very very well the performance of Sacha Boey, it will force Hamari Traoré to move a little more!

- Mandjeckinho (@Mandjeckinho) December 12, 2019

“He is a player who has personality, ambition. Certainly he is not experienced, but it is necessary to start one day. And if he is the one who has to start on Friday, I have no fear that he can perform right away, ”assures his coach.

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  • Rennes
  • League 1
  • Nice
  • OGC Nice
  • Julien Stéphan