After securing a dominant 4-0 win in their opening game of the 2020/21 campaign against Stade Brestois, Nîmes Olympique came up short in their second game of the new Ligue 1 season as they suffered a 2-1 defeat away to Nantes, who remain undefeated from their opening two games this term after drawing 0-0 with Girondins de Bordeaux on the opening day of the campaign.
Nantes managed to get themselves a two-goal cushion in the first half of this contest and despite the home side eventually going down to nine men after Imran Louza was sent off in the 47th minute and ex-Man United right-back Fábio da Silva received a second yellow card in the 87th minute of the game, Nîmes could only manage to score one goal and Nantes ultimately came away from this tie with all three points.
In this tactical analysis piece, we will look at the tactics that were deployed by both of these teams in and out of possession in this past Sunday’s contest. We will look at the tactics that helped Nantes to earn a two-goal lead and ultimately take all three points, while we will also look at both the positive and negative aspects to Nîmes tactics from their recent defeat.
Formations and lineups
To kick off this tactical analysis piece, we will look at how both Nantes and Nîmes Olympique lined up in this game, in terms of their respective shapes and in terms of the personnel that started this fixture for both teams.
Firstly, the home side started this contest in a 4-4-2 shape. Alban Lafont, who is on loan at Nantes from Serie A side Fiorentina, started between the sticks for the home side, while a back four consisting of the versatile Dennis Appiah at right-back, Fábio at left-back and the central defensive pairing of Andrei Girotto and Nicolas Pallois started in front of the French goalkeeper.
Louza and ex-Liverpool man Pedro Chirivella started in centra midfield for Les Canaris, while Marcus Coco started at right-wing and Moses Simon started at left-wing for the home side.
