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Player reportLigue 1 2025/26

Samson Baidoo

Lens
Ball-playing centre-back CB
4.6 progressive passes/90 · 0.4 line-breaking/90
centre-backstopper centre-backbuild-upline-breaking
1941
minutes
23 apps
1060
passes
93% completed
93%
pass completion
1060 passes
100
progressive passes
4.6/90
85
line-breaking passes
3.9/90
366
defensive actions
17.0/90
57
tackles + interceptions
62% tackle win
85
clearances
3.9/90
Overview

The player

Who he is and how he compares with his peers.

01

What Patterns Define Him?

His repeatable signature. A step only appears if its reliability score (sample size × match coverage) reaches at least Medium confidence — pattern mining, not anecdotes.

RECEIVE
in the first line of build-up — mostly in the middle third (51% of his 1060 passes)
93% completion · 1060× in 23/23 matches
↓
CARRY OUT
step into midfield to commit a presser
8 carries · 16× in 6/23 matches
↓
BREAK A LINE
vertical pass past the opponent midfield
4.6 prog/90 · 85× in 22/23 matches
↓
SWITCH PLAY
diagonal to the far side
cross-field balls · 54× in 19/23 matches
↓
PROGRESS
entries into the final third
2.8/90 · 61× in 20/23 matches
Signature: receive in the first line → break the midfield line vertically → switch or progress. Press him early and shut the vertical lane to force the safe sideways ball.
17

Where is he influential — vs where is he merely present?

Red fill = raw touch territory. Gold rings = zones where his influence (xT added, progression, line-breaks, key passes) outweighs how often he's actually there — one combined map instead of two separate maps to compare by eye. Red with no ring: present but not dangerous. A ring on faint red: rare touches, outsized impact.

own goal left, attacking →
46
passes / match
17.0
def actions / 90
7–94
pass range (matches)
85
clearances
Pass range = his fewest and most passes in any single match this season (7 at the low end, 94 at the high) — a measure of match-to-match involvement, not pass distance.
In possession

In possession

What he does with the ball: build-up, progression, creation, carrying and finishing.

10

How dangerous are his carries?

Real ball-carries

217 tracked carries (10.1/90, 34 progressive, 1706m total) — the ball moving with his touches, a different signal from dribbles below (beating an opponent 1v1). even a player who rarely dribbles past a man can still carry the ball forward constantly in build-up; this is that.

5%7%1%1%10%24%25%7%1%0%4%6%6%3%
progressivelateral/short% of his 217 carries originating in each zone · own goal left, attacking →
Every carry, exact path — median 7m, longest 28m
By zone — where the carry started → where it ended
7Outside → Inside
193Inside → Inside
12Outside → Outside
5Inside → Outside
First (71)Second (61)Third (46)Fourth (39)grouped by carry pattern (start + end position), largest group first
startendown goal left, attacking →

Beaten in the tackle

How often an attacker gets past him in a 1v1 defensive duel — the closest signal the data has to "dribbled past" (no attacker-beat-defender field exists directly, so this counts tackles he attempted and lost).

34
tackle duels
21
won
13
beaten · 38%
brighter band = more tackle duels · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 44%
OUTSIDE 56%
Tackle-duel location — 15 inside · 19 outside
Right Wing
12 · 35%
Right Half-Space
3 · 9%
Central
5 · 15%
Left Half-Space
7 · 21%
Left Wing
7 · 21%
Vision AI beaten in 13 of 34 tackle duels (38% loss rate) — a solid 1v1 defensive record.
Every tackle duel, exact location
wonlost — dribbled pastown goal left, attacking →

Dribbles (1v1s)

For a centre-back the carry is a build-up weapon — does he step out through the middle, or keep it simple? Every carry classified by channel. Season rate: 0.37 dribbles attempted /90.

brighter band = more dribbles · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 75%
OUTSIDE 25%
Dribble location — 6 inside · 2 outside
Right Wing
2 · 25%
Right Half-Space
3 · 38%
Central
1 · 12%
Left Half-Space
2 · 25%
Left Wing
0 · 0%
Vision AI 75% of his carries are central — he steps out through the middle to draw a presser before releasing.
02

How does he build & move the ball?

How does he escape the first line?

11%
vertical passes
91×
6%
switches
44×
24%
carries
188×
60%
short circulation
475×
Answer: he escapes the press primarily through carrying — stepping out with the ball.

How he moves the ball — his 4 busiest progression routes, not where every pass starts and ends separately. Arrow width = how often, colour = xT gained, dashed = switch of play. The full breakdown is in the lane matrix below.

own goal left, attacking →
Lane transition matrix — when he receives in a lane, where does it go?
TO →RWRHSCLHSLWRW7132%2342%3024%171%1RHS17532%5621%3634%6011%202%3C53414%7722%11618%9731%16315%81LHS1784%712%2231%5615%2638%67LW244%112%338%946%11FROM
Rows normalised: each row sums to 100% of that lane's completed passes. Grey number = passes from that lane.

Primary route: central areas in the middle third → central areas in the final third — 6 progressive passes (18% of his progression) at 0.116 xT each. He keeps it in the same lane.

His progression is inward: 35% of progressive passes move the ball toward the middle versus 12% going wider — he cuts in rather than holding width.

12% of his passes are cross-field switches — he changes the point of attack often.

Quality behind the volume: 8 line-breaking passes and 61 final-third entries, 11.2 total xT added.

Origin and destination are measured on the same event row — no receiver inference. Receiver identity is not recoverable from this data source.
All passes — origin zone share
Filter: from to
3%8%6%3%0%6%23%25%11%0%0%3%6%3%3%0%
completedincomplete1060 passes · any zone → any zone · own goal left, attacking →
1060
passes
93%
completed
78
lost
Vision AIIn line with his 93% season completion rate.
03

How does he progress play?

How much he drives the ball forward. Progressive = completed pass advancing ≥15 toward goal.

100
progressive · 4.6/90
61
final-third entries · 2.8/90
0
box entries · 0.00/90
12
progression index /90
Progression index: one composite number — progressive passes + progressive carries + 2% of total distance progressed + 8× positive xT added, all per 90. Weights VOLUME and THREAT together rather than counting progressive actions alone.
12

How does he create chances?

3 key passes (0.14/90), 0 of them assists — where his chance creation specifically comes from, 18 zones (6×3), showing his share of key passes originating there.

Chance creation — key pass origin zone share
Filter:
33%33%33%
chance creation (3)assist (0)% of the selected group's key passes originating in each zone
06

Where does he become vulnerable?

79 times he gave the ball away. For a defender the danger is where — a loss in his own third can turn into a chance against; higher up it costs little.

2
attacking third (cheap)
34
middle third
43
own third (dangerous)
Vision AI 3% of losses are in the attacking third — a notable share happen deeper, which invites transitions.
Mistake danger (proxy): 2.10 danger-index/90 · 0.572 avg/turnover. Weights each loss by threat conceded at that location. True xT-conceded needs the opponent possession model; positional proxy.
05

What is his passing profile?

1060
passes attempted
48%
mostly forward
59%
mostly medium
Direction
Forward
508 · 48%
Sideways
442 · 42%
Backward
110 · 10%
Length (completed)
Short (<15m)
338 · 34%
Medium
580 · 59%
Long (>30m)
64 · 7%
07

Preferred Progression Routes — xT-weighted

His progressive passes as zone→zone routes, weighted by expected threat (xT) added — arrow width and the number are the total xT generated on each route, not just how often he plays it. This is where he actually moves the needle.

0.670.600.330.310.290.27
own goal left, attacking →
Highest-value routes (xT)
0.67
Central Mid third → Central Att third
5 passes
0.60
Central Mid third → Right Wing Mid third
12 passes
0.33
Central Def third → Right Wing Att third
2 passes
0.31
Right Half-Space Def third → Right Half-Space Mid third
4 passes
0.29
Right Wing Mid third → Right Wing Mid third
4 passes
0.27
Right Half-Space Def third → Central Mid third
3 passes
08

Where Does He Receive?

The zones where Samson Baidoo gets on the ball — his top three ball-collection areas highlighted (gold = primary). Reception is proxied by where his on-ball actions begin (no explicit receiver is recorded).

123
1 = primary, 2 = secondary, 3 = third · own goal left, attacking →
His collection zones
31%
Primary
Central, Middle third
22%
Secondary
Central, Defensive third
11%
Third
Left Half-Space, Defensive third
These are the zones where he collected the ball most.
09

Where Does He Operate? — Every Zone

Every on-ball touch (pass, dribble, shot) binned into a 6×3 grid — raw counts of where Samson Baidoo actually gets on the ball. Hover any zone for its breakdown by action type, its share of all touches, and the exact coordinate range it covers.

Filter:
31613328465244260118618348264334
own goal left, attacking → · brighter + higher number = more touches

Passes only — completed vs incomplete, by zone

Same zone grid, restricted to passes so completed/incomplete and match filters actually mean something — a shot or a dribble has no "completed" in the pass sense.

3%8%6%3%0%6%23%25%11%0%0%3%6%3%3%0%
own goal left, attacking →
11

Every Pass This Season — completed vs incomplete

Every pass this season, plotted individually — green = completed, grey (dashed) = incomplete, gold = key pass. Filter by outcome or isolate one match below.

3Key pass
3Cutback
100Progressive
85Long ball
54Switch
By zone — where the pass started → where it landed
60Outside → Inside
596Inside → Inside
35Outside → Outside
291Inside → Outside
By direction
508Forward
110Backward
442Sideways
own goal left, attacking →
04

Tactical patterns — how his football actually looks

Three clustered sequence diagrams from his own event data — his three busiest routes: the way he progresses, the pattern behind his chances, and where a turnover turns dangerous.

own goal left, attacking →
How does he progress the ball forward?
His most common route for progressing play: he plays straight through the central, advancing it forward in the middle third — 5 passes worth 0.67 xT.
Where do his chances come from?
Of 3 key passes, his busiest route is a delivery where he plays straight through the central in the final third — 2 times. The receiver isn't identifiable in this data, only where the pass started and ended.
Where does he lose the ball most?
This is a RATE, not a raw count — the share of his touches in each zone that end in a turnover, so a zone he simply plays in more often doesn't automatically look riskier. His weakest zone is the right wing in the middle third: 18% of his 33 touches there are lost (6 times).
14%7/49 lost11%11/101 lost5%11/230 lost11%12/114 lost8%1/12 lost18%6/33 lost5%4/87 lost6%18/327 lost6%5/79 lost8%1/13 lost—2 touches · too few—2 touches · too few—7 touches · too few—2 touches · too few—2 touches · too fewRWRHSCLHSLWDEFMIDATT
Out of possession

Out of possession

Where and how he defends and presses.

13

How & where does he defend?

366 defensive actions across the season (17.0/90). Where he wins the ball, and how — the core question for a defender. Aerial duels are not recorded for this competition, so aerial dominance is not measured here.

click a card to isolate that action type · own goal left, attacking →
34
tackles · 62% won
23
interceptions · 1.1/90
105
recoveries · 4.9/90
85
clearances · 3.9/90
15
blocks
31
avg action height
22
won high (att 3rd)
110
middle third
234
own third
Vision AI A deep-defending defender. He wins the ball mainly by stepping in — tackles, interceptions & recoveries outweigh clearances. 162 proactive ball-wins (7.5/90), tackle success 62%. He defends mostly around the middle third.
14

Can he play under pressure?

Split by how hard the opponent pressed (opponent PPDA — lower = more intense press). Can Samson Baidoo still play out when the opponent presses high? His build-up quality split by press intensity — the key question for a ball-playing defender. Tiers of ~7-9 matches — directional evidence, not proof.

press tier
completion
prog /90
line-breaks /90
xT /90
High press (PPDA 4.6, 7m)
89%
4.9
3.9
0.51
Mid press (PPDA 6.3, 7m)
92%
5.4
4.3
0.77
Low press (PPDA 8.4, 9m)
95%
3.9
3.8
0.90
Team

Team context

How much of the team runs through him, and what changes without him.

15

Impact on the Team

Lens's output per match with Samson Baidoo (23 matches) versus without him (11 matches). What his own defending should move — goals conceded and results — leads; attacking output (largely out of a defender's hands) is shown after, for context. A proper on-off model needs many more minutes.

WITH (23)
WITHOUT (11)
Δ
goals against /match
0.91
1.27
-0.36
points /match
2.22
1.73
+0.49
goals for /match
1.78
2.27
-0.49
xG for /match
1.77
0.10
+1.68
16

His Share of the Team

Of everything Lens produced this season, the categories where the biggest share ran through Samson Baidoo specifically — his share of the team total, not a per-90 rate.

category
share
him / team
clearances
11%
96 / 887
interceptions
6%
27 / 449
ball recoveries
6%
117 / 2045
Recruitment

Style and verdict

Style profile, closest comparables, and the summary.

18

Playing-Style Profile

Not raw event counts — football style scores: weighted models scored 0–100 against the 517 centre-backs in the pool (min 450 min). This is what separates players who post similar numbers but play differently. Proxy dimensions are inferred from on-ball data; true off-ball running / under-pressure context is not measured.

Stopper centre-back79%Ball-playing centre-back71%
Why Stopper centre-back 79%: a weighted blend of ball-winning 68 (weight 40%) + defensive aggression 72 (weight 35%) + retention 92 (weight 15%) + transition 62 (weight 10%). The score reflects how distinctively his profile SHAPE matches this archetype vs his peers.
Elite
passing directness, retention
Strong
press resistance, dribbling, defensive aggression, build-up
Average
ball-winning, box threat, transition, receiving zones, creativity
Weak
carrying, final-third threat, line-breaking, progression, through-balls, crossing, territory (wide vs central)
Unknown
aerial ability, marking, off-ball running — not in event data
Passing directness
93
Retention
92
Press resistance ~proxy
83
Dribbling
78
Defensive aggression
72
Build-up
71
Ball-winning
68
Box threat
64
Transition ~proxy
62
Receiving zones
49
Creativity
47
Carrying
28
Final-third threat
20
Line-breaking
16
Progression
14
Through-balls ~proxy
14
Crossing
13
Territory (wide vs central)
4
19

Similar Players — in style space

Closest comparables measured on the style scores above, within the same position family — so it separates how players are alike, not just how much they touch the ball. Each line explains the shared strength and the divergent mechanism. A light physical-profile term (height / weight; this player: 190 cm / 86 kg) is included at a quarter of one style axis's weight — enough to break ties between stylistic twins, not to override style. Scope: pooled across the Ligue 1, Bundesliga, La Liga, Premier League and Serie A, percentiled within each player's own league before comparing — a match from another league is marked with its league name.

Style, not quality: a high match here means two players tend to produce the ball in similar ways — it is not a ranking, a scouting recommendation, or a claim that they are equally good.

Lorenzo Lucchesi Monza · Serie A · 190 cm / 80 kg
92%
Driven by: press resistance (13%), retention (11%), progression (11%). Different mechanism — Baidoo more via receiving zones, passing directness.
Isak Hien Atalanta · Serie A 25/26 · 191 cm / 88 kg
88%
Driven by: territory (wide vs central) (11%), progression (11%), passing directness (11%). Different mechanism — Baidoo more via dribbling, creativity; Hien more via crossing.
Juma Bah Augsburg · Bundesliga · 195 cm / 80 kg
87%
Driven by: press resistance (15%), retention (15%), crossing (10%). Different mechanism — Baidoo more via passing directness, defensive aggression; Bah more via carrying, line-breaking.
Maxence Lacroix Chelsea · Premier League · 190 cm / 88 kg
87%
Driven by: territory (wide vs central) (14%), crossing (12%), final-third threat (9%). Different mechanism — Baidoo more via receiving zones, retention; Lacroix more via carrying.
Evan Ndicka Roma · Serie A · 192 cm / 85 kg
80%
Driven by: progression (11%), retention (9%), through-balls (9%). Different mechanism — Baidoo more via dribbling, press resistance; Ndicka more via territory (wide vs central), crossing.
Robin Koch Eintracht Frankfurt · Bundesliga · 192 cm / 85 kg
79%
Driven by: retention (16%), territory (wide vs central) (15%), crossing (13%). Different mechanism — Baidoo more via dribbling, ball-winning; Koch more via through-balls, final-third threat.
20

Summary

Samson Baidoo is a stopper centre-back / ball-playing centre-back: 93% pass completion, 85 line-breaking passes and 4.6 progressive passes /90. A build-and-progress centre-back whose value is in beating the first line with the pass, not in raw defensive volume. [Aerial duels, marking, line-height and 1v1 recovery need aerial-event + tracking data, absent here.]

Based on 23 matches (1941 minutes) this season — a reliable read. He profiles as a stopper centre-back / ball-playing centre-back — best used in a system built around that identity. His biggest room for growth is transition — even a modest improvement there would meaningfully lift his overall stopper centre-back profile.
✨ This report is interactive

Click any stat card to filter its map, hover a dot for the exact match, and use the dropdowns to slice passes zone-to-zone. Nothing here is static.

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