Formed by Hammers supporters Jack Elderton and Callum Goodall to offer their fellow fans in-depth but accessible analysis of their team and its players, Analytics United use performance analysis and data to examine how LOSC Lille’s visit to London Stadium could play out...
Finishing fifth last season and only missing out on the Champions League qualifiers on goal difference, LOSC Lille were one of the strongest sides in Ligue 1 during 2024/25. Consistently challenging for Europe’s premier competition, Lille have often been thought of as a team that play an attractive brand of football but continually fall short of competing for the title. They finally broke this spell in 2020/21 under Christophe Galtier, winning their first title in ten years with a team powered by the talents of Burak Yılmaz, Sven Botman and Mike Maignan.
This brought them to one of the major issues that faces teams beyond PSG in Ligue 1. Without the financial might of many other teams in Europe’s elite, players and staff can often end up departing when things go well. Over the following two seasons, Botman and Maignan would depart to Newcastle and AC Milan whilst other key players including Boubakary Soumaré, Amadou Onana, Jonathan Ikoné, Zeki Çelik and many others also left for pastures new. Even manager Galtier departed for Nice but thanks to some brilliant recruitment and youth promotion, these sweeping changes represented little more than just a bump in the road for Lille as they finished inside the top five in three of the four following seasons.
Currently managed by a seasoned top tactician in Bruno Génésio, Lille are once more playing some of the best football in France. Dominating possession in most of their games, averaging 57.6% last season, and focusing on generating high quality opportunities, producing 0.12 non-penalty expected goals per shot (the fifth highest in France), Génésio’s side are a patient but lethal outfit. Like any other team that wants to dominate the ball they also press aggressively without it, recording the most tackles in the attacking third of any team in Ligue 1 last season (3.29 per 90). This rarely translates into hectic counter-attacking though. Instead, Lille focus on re-establishing control and waiting for clear openings when winning the ball high.
Starting left-winger Osame Sahraoui fits into this approach perfectly as one of the most accurate chance creators in Europe. Unlike many other risk-taking forwards, Sahraoui manages to produce significant creative output, 0.3 xA per 90 (top 9% in Ligue 1), whilst maintaining an 83.9% pass completion rate (top 7%). The young Moroccan is one of the best outlet forwards in France, receiving 11.07 progressive passes per 90 (top 12%) and is another example of the incredible recruitment operation at Lille, signing for just €8m from Heerenveen last summer.
Another brilliant signing made by Lille in recent years is centre-back Alexsandro. The Brazilian defender arrived for just €2m from Chaves in Portugal after taking a somewhat unorthodox route to the top through the lower divisions of Portuguese football. Since moving to Lille, Alexsandro has quickly established himself as one of the best defenders in the division. His progressive numbers dwarf those of most other centre-backs, ranking in the top 6% for progressive passes (5.93 per 90) and the top 26% for progressive carries (0.83 per 90). And unlike some other defenders who focus first on progression and sometimes lack the physical qualities to dominate the duels, Alexsandro ranks as one of the best in the air too with a 71.9% win-rate, ranking in the top 11%.
Between an exciting cast of forwards and defenders from around the world, captain Benjamin André keeps things ticking in the middle. Heading into his seventh season with Les Dogues, André has been a consistent presence alongside names like Amadou Onana, Carlos Baleba, Angel Gomes and current up-and-comers Ngal’ayel Mukau and Ayyoub Bouaddi. Despite the incredible talent that has come through at Lille in the middle of the pitch over recent years, André has kept his place thanks to his incredible defensive work-rate and duelling ability where he ranks in the top 4% for tackles and interceptions (5.05 per 90), in the top 14% for ball recoveries (6.32 per 90) and as the number one winner of aerials amongst midfielders in France (3.14 per 90). This may paint a picture of a grizzled destroyer in the middle but André also performs incredibly well with the ball, producing 6.99 progressive passes per 90 (top 13%) whilst taking on the highest passing load of any midfielder in Génésio’s side.
As is typical for Lille, they will have to adjust following some major departures heading into the new season. Star man Jonathan David left for Juventus, while regulars Gabriel Gudmundsson and Angel Gomes left for Leeds and Marseille respectively. Standout goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier is also expected to depart for PSG at the time of writing, leaving significant holes in the team from last season.
Replacements Olivier Giroud, back in France after leaving LAFC in the MLS, and Felix Correia would seem to indicate a slight change in style for this season. As we know from Giroud’s time at Arsenal and in the French national team, the striker thrives on good delivery into the penalty area and Correia comes in as one of the more impressive crossers in Portugal last season (5.7 per 90, top 7%). It will be interesting to see how these players adapt to Génésio’s usual aversion to both crosses and dribbles with more of a focus on lower-risk methods of chance creation.
Playing Lille represents the perfect final test in pre-season for Graham Potter’s West Ham. With hopes of becoming a more ball-dominant side in the Premier League that presses well and shows patience in the final third to generate high quality opportunities, facing a team that has shown these qualities week-in-week-out in France will be a good chance to assess things ahead of the league season beginning.
If Potter’s side wish to come out on top and finish pre-season with a win, focusing on pressing more aggressively might be a way to do this as Lille ranked third-worst in Ligue 1 for shot-producing turnovers (0.62 per 90) last season. With players like Lucas Paquetá, Callum Marshall, Nayef Aguerd and Jarrod Bowen all standing out for their pressing actions in pre-season so far, Potter will hope they can do the same here, helping the team head into the new season with positive momentum after a big final victory.
*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of Analytics United and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of West Ham United.
