Lyon will face Marseille in the quarter-finals of Coupe de France in what is anticipated to be a highly exciting match.
Lyon by far have the better record when meeting Marseille, winning four of their last five clashes. Marseille, however, were the victors in their last meeting. The side that are currently managed by André Villas-Boas earned three points after beating Lyon 2-1 at Stade Vélodrome in matchday 13 of Ligue 1 in November.
Rudi Garcias side have been rather inconsistent lately albeit in a pretty decent run. Two wins, two losses, and a draw in their last five matches. Meanwhile, Dimitri Payet and co. are in excellent form this season and have been unbeaten in 16 matches in a row in all competitions. It will be very interesting to see the battle of tactics between the two managers and see which team come out on top.
In this tactical analysis, well give you a preview of both teams tactics and how they might set up in this game.
Lyons style of play
Under Garcia, Lyon tend to be rather patient when in possession. They tend to play from the back and will move the ball around, looking for gaps to exploit so they can progress the ball and attack the opposition.
They mostly utilise short or medium-range passes, only launching long balls if the short options are unavailable or if theyre looking to switch play.
Their structure in the build-up may vary depending on the formation or personnel Garcia picked. The choice of formation usually revolves around using 4-2-3-1/4-4-2 or 4-3-3/4-1-4-1. Occasionally, Lyon can also be seen playing in a 3-4-3 formation.
Above is an example of Lyons most common structure in the build-up. The goalkeeper would play short to one of the centre-backs and the two centre-backs would then split rather than stay narrow. The two full-backs would sit rather high but would look to drop back if needed.
In this particular situation, Lyon played against Lille in a 4-3-3 formation with Thiago Mendes being the lone pivot in the defensive midfielder position which allowed Houssem Aouar and Maxence Caqueret to sit higher in and around the half-spaces. The same structure can also be created in a 4-2-3-1 formation with one of the two defensive/central midfielders moving into more advanced areas while one stays in the six space. However, if theres some trouble in progressing the ball in the build-up the defensive/central midfielder who moved up will drop back and offer passing option or drag his marker away to allow the central defender some space to drive with the ball.
Some other times, in a 3-4-3 formation
