Belgian Pro League 2020/21 – Oostende v Anderlecht – tactical analysis

Vincent Kompany’s second game in charge of Brussels side Anderlecht saw him travel to the coast to face KV Oostende in this Belgian Pro League match on the 28th of August. The former Manchester City defender saw his side throw away a 1-0 lead against Mouscron at home in the 93^rd minute in their previous match, and this time his side had to come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2. Draws were a problem for Anderlecht last season, and are certainly something Kompany needs to work on.

Fridays game had plenty of interesting players on show for both sides, with Brighton loanee Percy Tau, who has yet to play an EPL game, putting in a strong performance. For Oostende, they gave former Norwich, Barnsley, and Portsmouth midfielder Cameron McGeehan his first start of the season. Compared to the previous Fridays 0-0 draw, this game was certainly an improvement and was interesting tactically.

This tactical analysis will look at how Oostende were able to race into an early two-goal lead, as well as why Anderlecht were unable to do much damage in the first half. Finally, the analysis will focus on how Anderlecht’s tactics changed at half time, and why they were able to create the goal that got them back into the game.

Formations

Home side Oostende were able to welcome back last seasons top scorer Fashion Sakala, who started wide right in the 4-3-3 formation. In goal was Guillaume Hubert, with Icelandic defender Ari Freyr Skulason at left-back and the versatile Andrew Hjulsager at right-back. Between them, Arthur Theate and Anton Tanghe were the centre-back partnership. The three-man midfield consisted of Cameron McGeehan, the experienced Kevin Vandendriessche, and Maxime D’Arpino, who was in the holding role. Makhtar Gueye led the line, with Robbie D’Haese on the opposite flank to Sakala.

For Kompany and Anderlecht, they also went with their usual 4-3-3. Despite rumours of a move away, Hendrik Van Crombrugge started in goal, with Derrick Luckassen and Elias Cobbaut in front of him. The impressive Bogdan Mykhaylichenko was at left-back, with Michael Murillo at right-back. The midfield three was made up of Marco Kana in a deeper role, with Tau and Adrien Trebel pushing on in support of the front three. Kompany dropped Landry Dimata in favour of Antoine Colassin as the striker, while Jeremy Doku and Anouaur Ait El Hadj were the wingers.

Takin

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