Ligue 1 2019/20: Paris Saint-Germain vs Lille – tactical analysis

In-form Paris Saint-Germain faced inconsistent Lille in matchday 14 at Parc des Princes on Friday.

The home side are already leading pretty comfortably midway through the season with an eight-point lead over second-placed Marseille in the Ligue 1 table. Though its still too early to rule out the other contenders to dethrone defending champions PSG this season, its looking quite likely that Thomas Tuchels side will eventually finish top of the table yet again this season.

Lille, meanwhile, havent been able to replicate their fine form from last season. A slight change of personnel and tactics havent seemed to work very well. Lately, Christophe Galtier side has even seen a rather significant change in terms of tactics. Sadly, that too still hasnt affected Lille in a positive way. Way too many points dropped in the league and with three losses and a draw in UEFA Champions League, surely their European dreams this season are over.

This tactical analysis will take a look at both teams setup, approach and tendencies in the game. Without further ado, lets delve into it now.

Lineups

PSG played in their usual 4-3-3 formation. Tuchel fielded a rather significantly different side from the last time they played in Ligue 1 (vs Brest). More than half of the team were changed with Keylor Navas, Thomas Meunier, Presnel Kimpembe, Juan Bernat, Marquinhos, Neymar, and Mauro Icardi all started against Lille. Only Thiago Silva, Julian Draxler, Idrissa Gueye, and Ángel Di María kept their place in the team.

Lille, meanwhile, were trying something new yet again this season. Having tried 3-4-3 in their last few matches with mixed results, now Galtier deployed his team in a 5-3-2 formation. In this match, they didnt play with any natural strikers though. Instead, Luiz Araújo and Jonathan Ikoné were tasked to play up front.

Paris Saint-Germain struggling to break Lilles 5-3-2 defence

PSG played a possession-based game and tried to play through the middle. They were fairly patient when building up from the back as they tried to find a way out of their half and into their opponents territory. However, once the ball entered the opposing half, PSG would move the ball much quicker. Using fewer touches on the ball and quick exchanges of passes.

However, with Lille defending in a pretty solid 5-3-2 system,