OM’s 2008 league campaign begins in Rennes. It’s a new year that OM wants to get off to a good start – which means getting the 3 points in Brittany.

Just one last training session at the Commanderie on Saturday afternoon and then the Olympiens will hit the road for Brittany, where they will make their return to league action for 2008 – their ‘bread and butter’, as they are wont to say, the means by which all their other objectives are achieved. More than 20 days after the win over Le Mans (1-0) at the Vélodrome, they’ll be looking to continue the run that saw them unbeaten in 7 L1 matches before the break. The trend continued last weekend in the Coupe de France against Beauvais but the match this week will be trickier. Eric Gerets warns: “In Beauvais, I was very satisfied with our first half and less so with the second. My players need to show that they can keep it up for 90 minutes, not just 45.”
And that’s exactly what the Olympiens will have to do in order to achieve their plainly stated objectives for the second half of the season. They’ll be looking to make up for lost time and the match in Rennes could be just the place to do it. “This match will give an indication of the direction we’ll take. If we play well, we can afford to be ambitious for the rest of the season.,” announced Gerets. “We want to climb the table and we’ll show that we deserve a better ranking,” confirms Cheyrou. But in their way stands a Breton side looking to steady their ship, still reeling from a catastrophic end to 2007 and a change of manager, with Guy Lacombe arriving just weeks ago. “We know him, he’ll really drum into them the ethic of never giving up. That was his strength at Sochaux,” notes a Samir Nasri now free of the illness and injuries that plagued his first half of the season. Perhaps he will be able to steer the Olympiens towards a successful second half of the season…

Emmanuel Jean

WHICH MIDFIELD PAIRING TO PLAY IN RENNES?

“We haven’t been spared by injuries since the start of the season but we’ve dealt with it.” Benoît Cheyrou is upbeat about OM’s way of dealing with injuries and absences. Along with the absences of African players for the CAN (Niang, Taiwo, M’Bami and Ayew), which have been on the cards for some time, OM will also have to deal with some much less predictable absences. Zubar is out with injury and Rodriguez, Faty and N’Diaye are in the squad for Wednesday’s clash with Auxerre but are still barely recovered from injury. It seems there is an injury pandemic in the OM defence that hasn’t left Eric Gerets with too many choices. “It’s the first time I’ve seen this kind of thing happen. There have been so many strange injuries. But I’m happy because the discipline and organization are still there,” he affirms. He can always play Cana in central defence, pairing him with Givet.

SQUAD DEBUTS FOR AKALE AND KRUPOVIESA

Ineligible to play in the Coupe de France match against Beauvais, the two new OM recruits Juan Krupoviesa and Kanga Akalé have been called into the squad to face Rennes. The Argentine and the Ivorian could even earn their first caps for OM at the Stade de la Route de Lorient. A left-back by trade, “Krupo” looks set to replace Taiwo, off on CAN duty. If Gerets should choose to take that option, the former Boca player will be able to give France a glimpse of his fiery temperament. “He feels comfortable in himself and in the defence,” announced the OM manager. Akalé could well find himself playing alongside Djibril Cissé, the only true striker in the squad. Former team-mates at Auxerre, the two lads know each other well and Gerets has refused to rule out a starting spot for the Ivorian:“He’s still lacking a bit of rhythm but there’s a chance he could start.”

THE RENNES SQUAD

Keepers: Pouplin, Luzi
Defenders: Hansson, Dembele, Fanni, Borne, Echiejile
Midfielders: Didot, Sorlin, Cheyrou, Lemoine, Leroy
Attackers: Badiane, Thomert, Wiltord, Pagis, Moreira, Briand.

THE OM SQUAD

Keepers: Mandanda, Maté
Defenders: Bonnart, L. N'Diaye, M'Bow, Krupoviesa, Rodriguez, Faty, Givet
Midfielders: Cheyrou, Cana, Kaboré, Zenden, Nasri, Ziani, Oruma
Attackers: Cissé, Valbuena, Akalé

RENNES-OM ON OMTV
Live pre-match at 20:30
Live post-match at 23:00
Complete match replay at midnight

RENNES-OM ON OM.NET
Live text, audio and photos from 20:40
Analysis, reactions, photos and quotes after the match
Videos: Reactions and then exclusive extended highlights at midnight.