Rennes v Dijon Betting Tips: Away side too big in the betting

Having lost both of their opening matches, by scorelines of 3-0 and 4-1, it would be very easy to assume that Dijon are a team to oppose this season. After all, they avoided the drop by just a single point last time around and are fancied by many to fall out of the top-tier this season. Having said that, Olivier Dall’Oglio’s men, fixture wise, haven’t had the easiest of starts as they’ve faced both Marseille and Monaco in the opening two weeks, and have perhaps performed a fair bit better than the bare results suggest.

In the betting, Rennes, who’re also yet to win this season, are hotly fancied to come out on top here; however, this is another one of those games where it’s quite difficult to see just how the hosts merit a price of 4/7. Especially since they failed to beat Dijon either at home or away last season. This is a much more realistic task for the visiting side and, having already tested themselves against two of Ligue 1’s top teams, they have nothing to fear. Rennes really haven’t created the best impression so far in drawing against Troyes and losing to Lyon. At 7/5, backing ‘Dijon Win/Draw Double Chance’ makes plenty of appeal.

Obviously taking zero points from a possible six is far from ideal, but it’s fancied that Dijon won’t be too disheartened by the start that they’ve made. Manager Dall’Oglio will know that staying in the division relies upon results against teams who aren’t fighting for something towards the top end of the table and so losses against the likes of Monaco and Marseille aren’t too much of worry. Besides, against both of those teams, Dijon actually acquitted themselves reasonably well. They created some good opportunities against Marseille and held out defensively for the best part of an hour, while their attacking efforts were duly rewarded against Monaco last time out. On top of this, the former defender, who funnily enough made 50 appearances for Rennes as a player, will be encouraged by the fact that Saturday’s opposition have made a stuttering start.

Based on what we’ve seen from them so far, Rennes are certainly no sure-thing here, or at least it’s hard to see them winning anywhere near as comfortably as their odds-on price suggests. Despite dominating possession against Troyes on match-day one, they struggled create much, while they also looked particularly susceptible to the counter – something that Dijon are capable of using to good effect. Much of the same can be said about their fixture against Lyon last time out; they had plenty of possession but failed to do anything of note with it, leaving the opposition keeper untested, while also looking fairly shaky at the back.

Aside from the fact that Dijon can take confidence from Rennes’s shaky start, the visitors can also draw on last seasons’ positive experiences against this opposition. Not only did they win by three goals to nil on home soil, but they also managed to secure a pleasing draw at this venue.

Overall, we’re talking about a fixture where the two teams look far more closely matched than the prices suggest and so it would be no surprise whatsoever if Dijon’s form suddenly took a turn for the better against a Rennes side who’ve done little to deserve such favouritism.

More upcoming tips can be found here.