As the Premier League dawns, Nottingham Forest takes on Rennes in a friendly at St. Georges Park. Forest has recorded a series of mixed results throughout July. Les Rennais avoided defeat in each of their four pre-season friendlies.
Preview (Nottingham vs Rennes)
Following a 1-0 loss to Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, Steve Cooper’s Nottingham Forest team enters Wednesday’s match with a losing record in each of their last two friendlies. Following a 2-0 loss against Leeds United at Elland Road, club captain Joe Worrall sent the ball to Patrick Bamford, a former Forest striker, who promptly opened the scoring before Ian Poveda scored the game-winning goal. The Tricky Trees began their preseason preparations with a 1-0 victory over their neighborhood rivals Notts County. They then lost 1-0 to Valencia but quickly turned things around with a 2-1 victory over Levante.
However, following back-to-back losses, Forest has now dropped three of its previous five exhibition games. They have scored only three goals in its previous five exhibition games while failing to score. Cooper is anticipated to select a stronger starting XI for the next two friendlies. The match against Eintracht Frankfurt is planned for this Saturday given that Forest’s Premier League season begins against Arsenal on August 12.
Preseason
Meanwhile, Bruno Genesio’s team will be confident about their chances of overcoming another Premier League team on Wednesday. Rennes’ impressive 3-1 success over West Ham United last time out. Tomas Soucek tied the score for the Hammers midway through the second half. Baptiste Santamaria had taken the lead in the ninth minute. However, Arnaud Kalimuendo had given Rennes the lead back before Angelo Ogbonna’s own goal late in the game.
Les Rennais now have a three-game winning streak thanks to their victory on Saturday. They previously defeated Saint-Malo and Brest in July, scoring six goals while only giving up two. The Red and Blacks have thus far avoided suffering a loss in preseason, winning three games and drawing one. They will be hopeful of getting off to a strong start in the 2023–24 Ligue 1 season, which starts next weekend. Rennes will participate in the Europa League this year after having a strong 2022–23 season. They won 21 of their 38 league games and finished fourth in the French premier division.
Team News
Following his transfer from Italian club Torino, Ola Aina made his debut for Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Morgan Gibbs-White made his preseason debut after leading the England Under-21s to European championship success. Chris Wood started up front against PSV in place of Taiwo Awoniyi, with Brazilian midfielder Danilo providing the striker with attacking support. Neco Williams is also set to play for Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, while new acquisition Anthony Elanga, who came off the bench the last time out, might start against Rennes.
While former Forest loanee Loic Bade has joined Sevilla, Rennes has been active in the transfer market this summer, acquiring Enzo Le Fee from Lorient and Ludovic Blas from Nantes. Bruno Genesio has a wide selection of players to pick from, with Geoffrey Lembet and Gauthier Gallon joining Le Fee and Blas at Roazhon Park. Les Rennais are still without long-term injury absentees Martin Terrier (ACL) and Xeka (ankle), but are still without long-term absentees.
Rennes has three wins and one draw, including a recent 3-1 success over West Ham, while Nottingham Forest has failed to maintain consistency throughout the preseason. In light of this, we anticipate Les Rennais to continue their winning streak with a slim victory over the Tricky Trees, who have recently put on a number of erratic performances.
Nottignham 2 – 2 Rennes
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