Having had their last two matches called off due to a major coronavirus outbreak, Lorient mark their return to action with a bottom-of-the-table clash against Dijon on Wednesday evening.
The rescheduled game was originally due to take place on January 17, and the visitors have since played out a 1-1 draw with Strasbourg ahead of this tie.
Match preview
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As many as 22 positive COVID-19 cases were reported among the Lorient players and staff earlier in January - only a few months after fellow newly-promoted side Lens suffered a significant outbreak of their own.
Christophe Pelissier's side were unable to name 20 negative players for their proposed fixtures with Nimes and Dijon - two clubs who are also fighting for their Ligue 1 status at the foot of the table - but Les Merlus will be able to take to the pitch against the latter this week.
Pelissier will be hoping that his formerly positive cluster suffer no ill effects from their infections, as the club are rooted to the bottom of the table and six points adrift of safety, although they do have at least one game in hand over most of the teams above them.
Les Merlus kicked off the year with back-to-back defeats to improving Monaco and Bordeaux outfits, and the proposed clashes with Nimes and Dijon would have provided a fully-fit Lorient with the perfect opportunity to claim some much-needed points, but the hosts cannot dwell on what could have been before this fixture.
Lorient thrashed Nimes 3-0 in what has been their only home win from their previous eight attempts, but a ravaged Merlus side will at least leapfrog their fellow relegation rivals if they can get the better of Dijon at the Stade du Moustoir.
Dijon have undoubtedly demonstrated a new-found resilience since David Linares initially took over in November, and they are still unbeaten in the calendar year.
However, Les Hiboux are also yet to win in the calendar year, as their three fixtures with Reims, Marseille and Strasbourg have all ended with both sides claiming a point apiece, and it took a rare goal from Senou Coulibaly to salvage a draw against the latter at the weekend.
Having managed to take maximum points from a trip to Nimes just before Christmas, Dijon are now unbeaten in their last four league matches and find themselves in the relegation playoff spot, although 17th-placed Nantes are only three clear having played a game more.
Despite their defensive resilience, Dijon's 13 goals ranks them as the lowest scorers in the top flight, although they have only failed to score in one of their last five away matches in Ligue 1 - winning two and drawing three of them.
Furthermore, Les Hiboux are the only team whom Lorient have failed to get the better of in the top flight, and the most recent meeting between the two sides back in November ended goalless.
Lorient Ligue 1 form: WLLDLL
Dijon Ligue 1 form: LLWDDD
Team News
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Formerly COVID-positive Lorient players such as Pierre-Yves Hamel, Julien Laporte, Yoane Wissa, Jonathan Delaplace and Adrian Grbic were all back in training for the hosts earlier this week and should be ready for starts.
However, the likes of Andreaw Gravillon, Paul Nardi, Vincent Le Goff and Laurent Abergel are uncertain having contracted the virus more recently.
Delaplace is fine to play in this one after serving a suspension against Bordeaux, but Armand Lauriente will serve a ban of his own this week.
Aside from the injured Anibal Chala and Yassine Benzia, Dijon have a fully fit contingent raring to go for this tie.
Minimal changes are expected from the visitors, who have proven incredibly difficult to break down in recent weeks, but Mounir Chouiar is expected to replace Frederic Sammaritano on the left-hand side.
Lorient possible starting lineup:
Nardi; Delaplace, Laporte, Chalobah, Morel; Monconduit, Lemoine; Diarra, Le Fee, Wissa; Moffi
Dijon possible starting lineup:
Racioppi; Boey, Manga, Coulibaly, Muzinga; Ndong, Cheikh; Ebimbe, Celina, Chouiar; Konate
We say: Lorient 0-1 Dijon
Lorient will still be without a number of first-teamers due to coronavirus and suspension, but there are no two ways about it - Pelissier's side simply have to win for the good of their survival prospects. However, they are unlikely to have any joy against a dogged Dijon side who are incredibly well-drilled at the back, so we expect a narrow away win in this rearranged tie.
Top betting tip
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Lorient win with a probability of 40.31%. A win for Dijon had a probability of 31% and a draw had a probability of 28.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Lorient win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.95%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.03%) and 2-0 (7.84%). The likeliest Dijon win was 0-1 (10.96%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.26%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 1.7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Lorient would win this match.
