Can Paris Saint-Germain keep up its perfect start to the Ligue 1 season? It has what, on paper, looks like a winnable match with its trip to Brittany to face Stade Rennais, also popularly known as Rennes.
League-leading PSG has gone 8 for 8 to begin its French Ligue 1 campaign. It is already 15 points better than 14th-placed Rennes (2-3-3). The Parisian side is still a ways from matching the record it set in 2018-19 with 14 straight wins to start that season. PSG's current Ligue 1 winning streak has largely happened without star signing Lionel Messi, who since arriving has missed five Ligue 1 matches due to injury, rest or lack of fitness. Messi's only two appearances to date in the French top flight have come against Stade de Reims and Olympique Lyon.
Both teams are coming off midweek victories in European cup competition. PSG notched another win, 2-0, Tuesday against fellow UEFA Champions League favorite Manchester City with Messi scoring his first goal for the club. In the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday, Rennes got a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Dutch club Vitesse with the game-winner scored by teenager Kamaldeen Sulemana.
WATCH: Messi, PSG vs. Rennes on fuboTV (free 7-day trial)
"They have some exceptional players but we're capable of giving them trouble," Rennes head coach Bruno Genesio said in the lead-up to the match. "We need to remember what we did to them last season (a 1-1 draw in Rennes). We'll give everything on the field [Sunday]."
Sporting News will be following the Rennes-PSG match live and providing score updates, commentary and highlights as they occur.
MORE: Updated PSG season match schedule and results
Rennes vs. PSG live score
| 1H | 2H | Final | |
| Rennes | — | — | — |
| PSG | — | — | — |
Goals:
Rennes vs. PSG live updates & highlights
(All times Eastern)
11:32 p.m.: The league leaders kick off Ligue 1's seven-game Sunday slate.
⏰ When your alarm goes off very early on a Sunday morning to watch PSG play. 😬
— beIN SPORTS USA (@beINSPORTSUSA) October 3, 2021
☕️ Catch @staderennais vs @PSG_English live on beIN SPORTS on Sunday at 7AM ET / 4AM PT. 🔥#SRFCPSG @Ligue1_ENG pic.twitter.com/umo59vlnAF
Rennes vs. PSG lineups
PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino is only missing a handful of players for the trip to Rennes. Layvin Kurzawa and Julian Draxler are both out because of illness, while one of the club's big offseason signings, central defender Sergio Ramos, is still working his way back into shape. He'll manage to cobble together a starting XI together from the following 22-man squad:
PSG squad vs. Rennes
- Goalkeepers (3): 1-Keylor Navas, 16-Sergio Rico, 50-Gianluigi Donnarumma
- Defenders (7): 2-Achraf Hakimi, 3-Presnel Kimpembe, 5-Marquinhos, 17-Colin Dagba, 22-Abdou Diallo, 24-Thilo Kehrer, 25-Nuno Mendes
- Midfielders (7): 6-Marco Verratti, 8-Leandro Paredes, 12-Rafinha, 15-Danilo Pereira, 18-Georginio Wijnaldum, 21-Ander Herrera, 27-Idrissa Gueye
- Forwards (5): 7-Kylian Mbappe, 9-Mauro Icardi, 10-Neymar Jr., 11-Angel Di Maria, 30-Lionel Messi
Rennes manager Bruno Genesio will have his full side available for the match, but it remains to be seen whom he'll select to start on short rest after Thursday's Europa Conference League road win at Vitesse.
Stade Rennais squad vs. PSG
- Goalkeepers (3): 16-Alfred Gomis, 1-Romain Salin, 40-Dogan Alemdar
- Defenders (7): 27-Hamari Traore, 22-Lorenz Assignon, 6-Nayef Aguerd, 23-Warmed Omari, 4-Loic Bade, 3-Adrien Truffert, 25-Birger Meling
- Midfielders (5): 8-Baptiste Santamaria, 14-Benjamin Bourigeaud, 26-Lesley Ugochukwu, 28-Jonas Martin, 20-Flavien Tait
- Forwards (6): 24-Gaetan Laborde, 7-Martin Terrier, 9-Sehrou Guirassy, 18-Matthis Abline, 10-Kamaldeen Sulemana, 17-Loum Tchaouna
MORE: Updated UEFA Champions League standings
How to watch Rennes vs. PSG
- Date: Sunday, Oct. 3
- Time: 7 a.m. ET
- TV channel: beIN Sports
- Spanish-language TV: beIN Sports en Espanol
- Live stream: fuboTV
The match will be televised live by beIN Sports, which is available on fuboTV (free 7-day trial for new users).