Lens have had an excellent start to the season but have stumbled since the international break, getting thrashed by Brest and being the lesser side in their draw with Angers.
Franck Haise made three changes to the side that drew with Angers, as Arnaud Kalimuendo returned from suspension to replace Ignatius Ganago in attack, Massadio Haïdara took Facundo Medina’s spot in defence as he did at half-time against Angers and Yannick Cahuzac came into midfield in an attempt to manage Gaël Kakuta’s fitness, as he’s been struggling with muscle pains since the start of October, making three matches in a week a massive risk. This saw Lens switch from their usual 3-4-1-2 formation to a 3-5-2.
Pascal Gastien made just one change to the team that lost to Reims, replacing Jason Berthomier with Yohann Magnin in a 4-3-3 shape.
Clermont came up with a slightly different way of dealing with the problems posed by Lens’ back three. They would initially sit off, with the front three in narrow positions blocking passes into the midfield, then, once Lens began to play out, Clermont would step up and try to trap them on one side of the field. Mohamed Bayo would start off blocking passes into Cheick Doucouré but would then step up to pressure Kevin Danso and curve his run to cut off the pass wide to one of the centre-backs, forcing Danso into passing in the direction of the other as that side’s winger stepped up to press the centre-back.
The main issue this posed for Clermont occurred deeper though. With the wingers stepping up to press the centre-back, it was left to the Clermont full-backs to step out and pressure the Lens wing-backs, pulling them far from the backline. Lens’ attackers would make use of this space behind the full-backs, pulling wide and dragging a centre-back with them, creating space for their strike partner or a runner from midfield to attack through the middle.
Lens took the lead from one of these situations. They sent the ball down the right, dragging Vital N’Simba, Florent Ogier and Jean-Claude Billong all across to that flank, then switched play to Przemyslaw Frankowski on the opposite side. He offloaded the ball to Seko Fofana overlapping down the outside and his low cross was turned into the net by manager’s son Johan Gastien.
After going behind Clermont began to press higher. They often managed to force Lens long, where they could recover the ball, however if Lens were willing to be more patient it could create issues for Clermont. By having Cahuzac pull wide, Lens could stretch Clermont’s midfield three, opening up gaps between them for Florian Sotoca to drop into and receive the ball.
In attack, Clermont’s tactics consisted of trying to overload Lens’ backline, going five-versus-five. They would do this by either having the wingers tuck inside and the full-backs push forward down the outside, or by having the wingers stay wide and the midfielders push up into attack, or a combination of the two. To get the ball into the attackers, they would pass down the flanks, via either the full-backs or midfielders pulling wide depending on who had pushed forward to join the attack.
This was how Clermont equalised, as Akim Zedadka received the ball out wide and had space to cross towards the back post, where three Clermont attackers went against three Lens defenders. Magnin rose above Jonathan Gradit to head home the cross. The goal also took advantage of something Lyon had exploited too: by having wingers stay wide and stretch the play, Clermont were able to create space for their full-back to cross because Frankowski didn’t want to leave Jodel Dossou to step out and meet Zedadka.
Lens retook the lead just after half-time. Doucouré had space in midfield to spread the ball wide, where Jonathan Clauss outpaced N’Simba to run in behind and cut the ball back towards the edge of the area. Salis Abdul Samed likely could have cut the ball out, however he was focussed on picking up Kalimuendo, letting the ball roll past him to Fofana to finish.
Clermont equalised again though. Gastien played a ball in behind and Haïdara fell to the ground, allowing Clermont to get at Lens’ backline two-on-two. Dossou collected the ball and squared to Bayo, who had time to take a touch and chip it over Jean-Louis Leca thanks to Gradit falling over in stretching to intercept the ball but missing.
Lens pushed for a winner, introducing Kakuta and Medina to pass quickly into attack down the left, especially after Yadaly Diaby was sent off for a high foot, however they were unable to break down Clermont.
This performance by Lens was better than against Brest or Angers, but that was to be expected given it was against a team fighting relegation. It was neither a good performance or result when Clermont’s recent form is taken into account and doesn’t bode well for Saturday’s visit from Paris Saint-Germain.
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