Olympique Lyon have been one of the most defensively solid sides in Ligue 1 this season. Les Gones have conceded a total of 27 goals from 28 league games thus far during the 2019/20 campaign, which is a better defensive record than all but three other Ligue 1 sides.
In addition to their actual goals against record for the 2019/20 campaign, some of Lyon’s other defensive stats for the current season make for impressive reading. Firstly, Les Gones’ xGA (expected goals against) currently sits at 27.1 for the 2019/20 campaign, as per Wyscout. This gives Lyon the third-best xGA that any Ligue 1 side have managed to earn this season, trailing only PSG and Angers SCO.
Furthermore, Lyon’s average xG per shot faced is currently 0.09 according to Wyscout, which is the lowest in Ligue 1 at present. The xG (expected goals) stat provides us with a measure of the quality of a shot. It may be fair to say that Lyon have been successful at preventing their opponents from creating many high-quality goalscoring opportunities against them this term, based on these stats and their relatively impressive defensive record.
This tactical analysis piece will examine Lyon’s defensive system. In this scout report, we will analyse some of the fundamental characteristics of Rudi Garcia’s tactics when his side are playing without the ball. We will discuss what Lyon set up to do out-of-possession and examine the defensive qualities that have helped them to maintain a relatively impressive defensive record this season in this tactical analysis.
Maintaining a central overload
The first fundamental characteristic of Lyon’s defensive system which they perform to a high level is ensuring that they maintain a numerical superiority in the centre of the pitch out-of-possession.
Regardless of what formation Les Gones set up in for a particular game, they can often be seen successfully maintaining control of the centre of the pitch without the ball. This is an unwavering aspect of Garcia’s tactics which his Lyon side have managed to perform effectively during the 2019/20 campaign. They generally achieve this through the use of a particular shape which allows them to enjoy a numerical superiority in the centre in addition to effectively maintaining compactness within their defensive block.
This first image which can be seen above provides us with an example of how Lyon typically control the centre of the pitch while the opposition are in the process of building out from the back. Lyon were set up in a 4-1-4-1 shape for this game, which in and of itself allows them to play with three dedicated central midfielders. Meanwhile, their opponents in this game, Saint-Étiennem deployed a 4-4-2.
As we can see in this image, Lyon enjoyed the advantage of having one extra player than their opponents in the centre of the pitch. While their two ‘8’s can be seen occupying slightly more advanced positions, marking both of their opposition’s two central midfielders, Lyon’s holding midfielder is free to screen the defence and provide an extra, free body in the centre of the pitch.
