Rennes – Angers

Rennes takes on Angers in the French Cup semifinals, Tuesday 15 April. The tie is played over a single leg.

The home team is on the 14th place in Ligue 1 having virtually avoided relegation and has nothing else to fight for aside from the Cup, so this is the match of the season so far for them (of course, for Angers too). After decades without winning a trophy Rennes will feel they have a fighting chance now and at home will be confident of defeating their second league opponents. The hosts are in decent form but lost their last match 1-0 vs. Monaco, their first defeat in 5 games. Rennes got past Lille (2-0) in the French Cup quarterfinals.

At a close analysis we can see that Angers had a pretty easy road to the semifinals. They met a single Ligue 1 opponent and that was the last placed Sochaux in the R16, at home (1-0). In the other three games Angers needed extra time or penalties to defeat the likes of Villenave, Chambly, CA Bastia and Moulins, so for sure it wasn’t the most glamorous road to this stage for the Ligue 2 side which did not make any of the usual French Cup upsets so far.

Bet with the best odds and highest limits at Pinnacle.

In the league Angers is in a dogfight for the 3rd (and last) promotion place – they are on 6th place but tied with the 3rd. Angers was looking very good value to achieve promotion but a drop in form lately allowed other teams to catch up or even overtake them. Angers’ 1-0 home win vs. Le Havre last round was their first one in the last 9 games. The last time Angers won an away game was almost 2 months ago in February.

Rennes has a big chance to reach the final and I don’t think the Bretons will blow this up. The home team is the odds-on favorite for good reason today and an upset seems unlikely. Not only is Rennes the better team and playing at home, but they are also in much better form than their Ligue 2 opponents. Angers was far from impressive in the Cup despite reaching this stage so I don’t see any premises for a surprise, even is the French Cup is usually unpredictable.

Doesn’t look like that this time, so after my analysis my tip will be Rennes to win with -1 asian handicap. Good odds for this bet. Correct score prediction: Rennes – Angers 2-0.

Pick: Rennes (-1 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 2.09 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 8.72
Event date: 15 April