Europa League Confirmed Line-Ups: Stade Rennais vs. Olympiacos

Olympiacos and Stade Rennais name their official starting line-ups for the UEFA Europa League Matchday 4 clash at the Roazhon Park in Rennes, France. 

Thrylos will aim to stretch their unbeaten Europa League group/league phase run to 11 consecutive matches. They are also on a three-game winning run in European competition this season after sealing narrow victories over Jagiellonia Bialystok, Marseille and Sparta Praha. 

Head coach Imanol Alguacil's men head into this contest on the back of a thrilling 3-2 win over Kifisia in Super League Greece. Joel Roca, Marius Mouandilmadji and Gelson Martins were on the scoresheet for Olympiacos as they dispatched Kifisia, who staged a brief comeback through Jordi Mboula and Gerson Sousa. 

As for the official line-ups for the upcoming clash, Alguacil has provided a start to Armando 'Hormiga' Gonzalez, who will aim to continue his red-hot form in Europe. Kostas Fortounis has recovered from his knock as he has featured in the starting eleven. Santiago Hezze and Gustavo Puerta are the two holding midfielders. Bruno Onyemaechi and Manolis Saliakas are the full-backs. 

Meanwhile, Stade Rennais will hope to use their unbeaten home advantage to its full potential this evening against Olympiacos. Their previous outing ended in a 5-2 defeat to OGC Nice at the Allianz Riviera. While they are yet to lose in the Europa League this season, Rennais' record contains two draws and just one victory across the three matches. 

Musa Al-Taamari and Boulaye Dia start as the two forwards upfront after scoring in their last European match. Brice Samba starts in goal, with Bryan Reynolds, Anthony Rouault, Charlie Cresswell, Goncalo Oliveira and Mahamadou Nagida as the five defenders. The initial idea seems to be focusing on defensive numerical advantage to restrict the likes of Gonzalez, Gustavo Sa and Leon Bailey. 

Franck Haise have chosen a relatively strong starting line-up as a defeat here could adversely affect their entire European campaign. As for Olympiacos, it is an opportunity to keep the pressure on at the top of the table while creating momentum in all three competitions they are currently featuring in. 

Here are the official starting line-ups for the match between Stade Rennais and Olympiacos

Stade Rennais (5-3-2): Samba; Reynolds, Rouault, Cresswell, Oliveira, Nagida; Szymanski, Thomasson, Camara; Al-Taamari, Dia. 

Olympiacos (4-2-3-1): Ortega; Saliakas, Retsos, Carmo, Onyemaechi; Puerta, Hezze; Bailey, Sa, Fortounis; Gonzalez.

More more updates regarding the match, keep an eye on our page.