Fonseca's expected 4-3-3 will look to dominate the ball and pin Rennes back. The front three of Lois Openda, Keito Nakamura and Kail Boudache — as seen in the Anderlecht lineup — offers pace in behind and trickery in the half-spaces. Openda's movement is the key: he stretches backlines, and that creates room for the advanced midfielders to knife through the lines. Tyler Morton and Tanner Tessmann in the double pivot give Lyon control and the ability to switch play quickly. The full-backs, likely Ruben Kluivert and Clinton Mata, will push high, turning the pitch into a siege.

Rennes will set up in Haise's usual 4-2-3-1, and they will not be passive. Valentin Rongier and Mahdi Camara form a combative double pivot, with Ludovic Blas operating as the creative hub behind Esteban Lepaul. The threat comes on the counter — Blas drifting into pockets, Lepaul holding the ball up, and Issa Soumaré or Mahamadou Nagida bursting forward from wide. Rennes will look to bypass Lyon's press with quick vertical passes and then attack the space behind the advanced full-backs. It is a classic away-day blueprint: soak, then strike.

The midfield dogfight will decide the tempo. If Lyon's double pivot can screen the space in front of the back four, Rennes will struggle to get Blas on the ball in dangerous areas. But if Rennes can win the second balls and turn defence into attack in three passes, the Parc Olympique Lyonnais could get nervous. Set-pieces are another battleground: Rennes have height in Charlie Cresswell and Anthony Rouault, and Haise will have drilled them on dead balls. Lyon must stay disciplined.