How Spacing Problems Cause Scoring Struggles: Ivan Leko’s Tactics At Standard Liège 2024/25

Standard Liège are historically one of Belgiums most decorated clubs, with 10 league titles, eight national cups, and a European final appearance to their name over their long 126-year history.

But since their last top-five finish in 2019/20, the club has had a turbulent ride.

They have failed to qualify for Europe ever since, marking this as their longest continental drought in over thirty years.

So far this season, under Ivan Lekos tactics, they arent faring much better, with the club currently sitting in ninth position in the Jupiler Pro League table.

But the most alarming part isnt their league standing; its the amount of goals theyve scored.

With 11 rounds played to date, Standard have struck the back of the net on only seven occasions, making them statistically the worst offensive team in the league as no one has scored less.

Not only that, but only three of their seven strikes have come from open play, with the rest arriving off of dead ball situations.

This tactical analysis and team-focused scout report will explore Standard Liège offensive tactics.

We will explore whether theyre just misfiring, whether these statistics indicate deeper issues on the field and whether the recent win over Charleroi is a sign that things will be alright at the Stade Maurice Dufrasne.

Standard Liège Data Analysis 2024/25

The first important step is to examine the available data more closely to understand Standards scoring problems.

Lets start off by looking at what they do with the ball offensively when they have it.

Standard Liège Ball Progression Map

As the data viz above displays, most of Standards offensive activity clearly comes through the wider areas.

Theres very little coming through the central areas, which already suggests some issues within their midfield when it comes to finding attacking success.

Out wide, on both sides, theyve found a moderate level of suc