With eight assists so far in the 2024/25 season of Serie A, Nuno Tavares is ranked at the top of the Serie A assist-makers table, ahead of Napoli’s Romelu Lukaku, who has seven assists, and AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic with six assists.
Tavares has significantly impacted Lazio’s results this season.
His playmaking input has been decisive for the team’s league success so far, especially compared to last season.
Lazio currently holds the fifth spot and is battling for fourth to qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season.
In contrast, they finished seventh in the 2023/24 season and could only qualify for the Europa League.
This significant progress in Lazio’s results and objectives is very important for the team and for players like Tavares, whose role is vital in keeping the team’s results in continuous progress.
Who Is Nuno Tavares?
Nuno Tavares started his football career at Benfica in 2018.
During his first season with them, he played with the B team before getting promoted and playing with the senior team from 2019 to 2021.
His period at Benfica was not very remarkable.
With 41 competitive appearances, he did not contribute significantly to the team, as he was mostly used as a substitute.
Following this period, Tavares joined Arsenal and played in the Premier League for the 2021/22 season.
He was good enough upfront but had some recurrent defensive frailties and mistakes that led to his not being confirmed as a reliable starting player in Arsenal’s formation by the end of that season.
This led to loaning him out to Ligue 1’s Olympique Marseille for the 2022/23 season and then to Nottingham Forest for the 2023/24 season.
Both teams did not activate his purchase clause even though he improved significantly, especially during his period at Marseille.
Recently, he moved on loan to SS Lazio with the obligation to buy if certain conditions were met.
So far, we can say that Tavares is performing very well for Lazio.
All that is needed from him is consistency in his performances in order to earn the trust of everyone at Lazio and eventually be transferred permanently to the Biancocelesti.
In this tactical analysis and scout report, we will explore Nuno Tavares’ playmaking abilities and how important he has been to Lazio’s tactics so far.
The analysis will also shed light on Tavares’ most fitting positions and roles and how Lazio can benefit from his services in the best possible way in the period to come while limiting his weaknesses and helping him perform better.
Nuno Tavares Positions & Roles At Lazio
Tavares has been mainly used as a left-back in Lazio’s 4-2-3-1 formation under Marco Baroni’s tactics, and the Portuguese international can be described as an offensive left-back.
The statistics related to assist-making already show that Tavares is an offensive player who can provide key passes and be crucial in playmaking.
Still, we should also mention that he is not reliable enough in the defensive phase.
Being poor defensively explains why he is consistently subbed in the second half and rarely plays full games.
That’s why playing him as a left-back is not really the most fitting position for a player with his characteristics.
The most suitable positions for Tavares would be to play as a wing-back in a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 formation or as a left winger, as these positions limit his crucial defensive duties, give him more freedom to advance, and be more dangerous in the offensive phase.
To consolidate this idea, it is important to know that Tavares is very agile, physically strong, and can be very pacey, which makes him very dangerous when penetrating towards the final third.
Thanks to playing in a more advanced position, being able to penetrate or cut inside more often would surely make Tavares much more impactful in the attacking phase, especially considering his already high dribbling, shooting, and dangerous passing numbers.
Moreover, his ability to often provide key crosses from the wing, provide numerous assists per season, and score goals from different situations with both feet makes him even more valuable.
The only aspects that need more work from Tavares are the defensive duels’ winning rates and the mental aspect, which requires some more efforts and changes from Tavares in order to keep performing well consistently and avoid attitude issues or loss of concentration, which might affect his performances and, therefore, career in the long run.
Nuno Tavares Radar Map
Nuno Tavares Playmaking & Assist-Making
With excellent progressive passes and dangerous pass rates, Tavares is becoming one of the best assist-makers in Italy.
If he succeeds in providing more assists in the remaining games, he could break his own record for this season.
Whether with crosses using his left foot, key passes to the box, or penetrations accompanied by passes into space, Tavares confirmed on numerous occasions that he can always find the best possible passing idea and execute it perfectly and in a well-timed manner.
His journey at S.S. Lazio started with two assists in the match against Milan at the start of the Serie A season, confirming his attacking talent and his ability to be decisive even against top Italian sides.
His agility with and without the ball and excellent attacking positioning always give him an advantage over opponents.
In this assist example, we can easily understand how dangerous he can be when given some space, knowing that his cross was perfectly timed and he met Valentin Castellanos at the appropriate place and time.
Nuno Tavares Assist Vs AC Milan
Another important trait that characterises Tavares and makes him a valuable attacking player is his ability to hit free kicks and corners efficiently.
This allows his teammates to make several attempts per match on goal.
This free kick, for instance, enabled Tavares to provide a powerful assist to Mario Gila.
Gila succeeded in anticipating the trajectory of the cross and dealt with it well.
The diversity of passing options that Tavares masters represents a powerful attacking weapon that Tavares can use in each game, especially against teams that leave a lot of space at the back.
Nuno Tavares Free-Kick Assist
Moreover, Tavares’ dribbling abilities are remarkable and often help him a lot in one-on-one duels upfront and mainly on the left wing.
Being capable of surpassing direct opponents quickly and relatively easily makes things easier for Tavares.
It allows him to focus further on the cross or the pass while facing less disturbance and seeing clearer trajectories.
The following assist example against Empoli not only highlights his dribbling capacities but also shows the ease with which he overcomes players while keeping his calmness and composure prior to crossing accurately to Mattia Zaccagni.
This showcases the player’s confidence, high dribbling success rate, long passing accuracy, and how impactful he can be on that wing.
Nuno Tavares Crossing Assist
Nuno Tavares Goalscoring & Defending
When it comes to goalscoring, it should be noted that Tavares’ goalscoring numbers decreased significantly since his arrival at Lazio as he had more attacking freedom at Marseille, given his advanced position under the management of Igor Tudor, which helped him score many goals for the French team.
That said, Tavares has made several dangerous attempts on goal during his time at Lazio so far, but he has not yet scored his first goal with the team.
Shooting from distance was one of Tavares’ most dangerous goalscoring weapons during his time at Marseille.
Baroni should work with the Portuguese player to intensify his accurate shots from distance and use them more often in favour of the team.
In fact, Tavares proved on more than one occasion that he can be very dangerous when cutting inside since he uses both feet with power and precision.
In this goal action, he successfully cut inside and scored using a powerful shot from the edge of the box using his right foot.
Nevertheless, working on his shooting accuracy and improving his power-accuracy balance when shooting would surely make him score more goals per season.
Nuno Tavares Shooting From Distance
Moreover, being present more often inside the box during set-pieces can be very beneficial for Lazio.
Tavares has the physical abilities and techniques needed to battle defenders and win offensive duels, and he usually comes up with intelligent reactions to complicated situations.
For instance, in this goal example from a match against Toulouse, Tavares received a cross from the right wing and did what was unexpected.
He was marked by two defenders and preferred to use his chest to control the ball oriented towards the left, clearing the way for himself to execute a half-volley and finish the action successfully.
Nuno Tavares Finishing
Conclusion
Nuno Tavares has been outstanding during the first half of this Serie A season, especially in terms of assists.
Even though his assists started decreasing during this period, it is safe to say that his performance level is not worrying at the moment and that he can return to his excellent attacking form.
Nevertheless, some work is needed in defence to win more duels per game and be reliable in this aspect, too.
Otherwise, Marco Baroni will be obliged to use Tavares as a winger only and not put the team at risk by using him as a left-back, given that being a winger would be more appropriate for Tavares’ abilities at the moment.
Moreover, intensifying his accurate crosses and key passes and finding the right balance between power and accuracy in his shots would certainly help Tavares become even more crucial upfront during the remaining games of this season.
