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Player reportLigue 1 2026

Souleymane Sagnan

Lens
Stopper centre-back CB
16.8 defensive actions/90 · 4.0 progressive/90 — defends first
centre-backstopper centre-backbuild-upline-breaking
268
minutes
3 apps
163
passes
90% completed
90%
pass completion
163 passes
12
progressive passes
4.0/90
17
line-breaking passes
5.7/90
50
defensive actions
16.8/90
16
tackles + interceptions
64% tackle win
14
clearances
4.7/90
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 (53% of his 163 passes)
90% completion · 163× in 3/3 matches
↓
BREAK A LINE
vertical pass past the opponent midfield
4.0 prog/90 · 17× in 3/3 matches
↓
SWITCH PLAY
diagonal to the far side
cross-field balls · 5× in 3/3 matches
↓
PROGRESS
entries into the final third
4.0/90 · 12× in 3/3 matches
Signature: Receive → Break A Line → Switch Play → Progress — the only steps proven repeatable this season (4 of 5 in the full pattern). Not enough evidence yet for the rest of the chain below.
Not a pattern: carry out — 2× (low confidence, shown as a number only, no tactical conclusion drawn) — omitted from the signature rather than presented as one.
14

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 →
54
passes / match
16.8
def actions / 90
48–63
pass range (matches)
14
clearances
Pass range = his fewest and most passes in any single match this season (48 at the low end, 63 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.

06

How dangerous are his carries?

Real ball-carries

46 tracked carries (15.4/90, 7 progressive, 360m 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.

11%2%2%7%37%26%9%7%
progressivelateral/short% of his 46 carries originating in each zone · own goal left, attacking →
Every carry, exact path — median 6m, longest 31m
By zone — where the carry started → where it ended
6Outside → Inside
20Inside → Inside
15Outside → Outside
5Inside → Outside
First (20)Second (15)Third (11)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).

11
tackle duels
7
won
4
beaten · 36%
brighter band = more tackle duels · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 55%
OUTSIDE 45%
Tackle-duel location — 6 inside · 5 outside
Right Wing
0 · 0%
Right Half-Space
1 · 9%
Central
2 · 18%
Left Half-Space
3 · 27%
Left Wing
5 · 45%
Vision AI beaten in 4 of 11 tackle duels (36% loss rate) — a solid 1v1 defensive record.
Every tackle duel, exact location
wonlost — dribbled pastown goal left, attacking →

He attempted only 1 dribble of his own all season — dribbling is not part of this role; his ball-carrying is covered above, his defending against the dribble below.

02

How does he build & move the ball?

How does he escape the first line?

8%
vertical passes
8×
1%
switches
1×
39%
carries
38×
52%
short circulation
50×
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 →RWRHSCLHSLWRW0RHS333%167%2C2326%652%1213%39%2LHS693%29%643%3025%1720%14LW512%116%837%1945%23FROM
Rows normalised: each row sums to 100% of that lane's completed passes. Grey number = passes from that lane.

Primary route: the left half-space in the defensive third → the left half-space in the middle third — 1 progressive passes (8% of his progression) at 0.035 xT each. He keeps it in the same lane.

His progression is inward: 58% of progressive passes move the ball toward the middle versus 8% going wider — he cuts in rather than holding width.

Only 6% of his passes switch play, so his threat is same-side — contain the flank he occupies and the route closes.

Quality behind the volume: 4 line-breaking passes and 12 final-third entries, 1.9 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
2%2%6%8%4%1%6%23%19%21%6%1%
completedincomplete163 passes · any zone → any zone · own goal left, attacking →
163
passes
90%
completed
17
lost
Vision AIIn line with his 90% season completion rate.
10

How does he create chances?

0 key passes (0.00/90), 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:
chance creation (0)assist (0)% of the selected group's key passes originating in each zone
08

Where does he become vulnerable?

17 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.

1
attacking third (cheap)
9
middle third
7
own third (dangerous)
Vision AI 6% of losses are in the attacking third — a notable share happen deeper, which invites transitions.
Mistake danger (proxy): 2.83 danger-index/90 · 0.496 avg/turnover. Weights each loss by threat conceded at that location. True xT-conceded needs the opponent possession model; positional proxy.
07

What is his passing profile?

163
passes attempted
44%
mostly forward
49%
mostly short
Direction
Forward
71 · 44%
Sideways
56 · 34%
Backward
36 · 22%
Length (completed)
Short (<15m)
72 · 49%
Medium
64 · 44%
Long (>30m)
10 · 7%
04

Where Does He Receive?

The zones where Souleymane Sagnan 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
24%
Primary
Left Half-Space, Middle third
21%
Secondary
Left Wing, Middle third
20%
Third
Left Half-Space, Defensive third
These are the zones where he collected the ball most.
05

Where Does He Operate? — Every Zone

Every on-ball touch (pass, dribble, shot) binned into a 6×3 grid — raw counts of where Souleymane Sagnan 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:
1038313510141013733
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.

2%2%6%8%4%1%6%23%19%21%6%1%
own goal left, attacking →
09

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.

1Cross
12Progressive
17Long ball
5Switch
By zone — where the pass started → where it landed
28Outside → Inside
76Inside → Inside
23Outside → Outside
19Inside → Outside
By direction
71Forward
36Backward
56Sideways
own goal left, attacking →
03

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 left wing, advancing it forward in the defensive third — 1 passes worth 0.23 xT.
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 left wing in the middle third: 18% of his 34 touches there are lost (6 times).
—0 touches · too few—3 touches · too few11%1/9 lost9%3/32 lost15%3/20 lost—0 touches · too few—0 touches · too few0%0/13 lost8%3/39 lost18%6/34 lost—0 touches · too few—0 touches · too few—2 touches · too few—4 touches · too few—7 touches · too fewRWRHSCLHSLWDEFMIDATT
Out of possession

Out of possession

Where and how he defends and presses.

11

How & where does he defend?

50 defensive actions across the season (16.8/90). 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 →
11
tackles · 64% won
5
interceptions · 1.7/90
7
recoveries · 2.4/90
14
clearances · 4.7/90
2
blocks
31
avg action height
4
won high (att 3rd)
14
middle third
32
own third
Vision AI A deep-defending defender. He wins the ball mainly by stepping in — tackles, interceptions & recoveries outweigh clearances. 23 proactive ball-wins (7.7/90), tackle success 64%. He defends mostly around the middle third.
Team

Team context

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

12

Impact on the Team

Lens's output per match with Souleymane Sagnan (3 matches) versus without him (5 matches). Insufficient evidence — the without-sample is only 5 matches; treat every Δ below as noise until more games exist. 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 (3)
WITHOUT (5)
Δ
goals against /match
1.67
1.40
+0.27
points /match
1.00
2.00
-1.00
goals for /match
2.00
2.00
+0.00
xG for /match
2.39
0.26
+2.13
13

His Share of the Team

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

category
share
him / team
tackles
2%
11 / 469
clearances
2%
14 / 656
interceptions
2%
5 / 285
Recruitment

Style and verdict

Style profile, closest comparables, and the summary.

15

Playing-Style Profile

Not raw event counts — football style scores: weighted models scored 0–100 against the 585 centre-backs in the pool (min 180 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-back78%Ball-playing centre-back67%
Why Stopper centre-back 78%: a weighted blend of defensive aggression 83 (weight 35%) + ball-winning 70 (weight 40%) + retention 71 (weight 15%) + transition 29 (weight 10%). The score reflects how distinctively his profile SHAPE matches this archetype vs his peers.
Elite
line-breaking, crossing
Strong
through-balls, defensive aggression, dribbling, creativity, press resistance, final-third threat, retention, ball-winning
Average
progression, territory (wide vs central), receiving zones, carrying, box threat, build-up
Weak
transition, passing directness
Unknown
aerial ability, marking, off-ball running — not in event data
Line-breaking
88
Crossing
87
Through-balls ~proxy
83
Defensive aggression
83
Dribbling
82
Creativity
78
Press resistance ~proxy
76
Final-third threat
76
Retention
71
Ball-winning
70
Progression
67
Territory (wide vs central)
64
Receiving zones
63
Carrying
54
Box threat
47
Build-up
45
Transition ~proxy
29
Passing directness
21
16

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: 187 cm / 77 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.

Valentín Gómez Real Betis · La Liga · 180 cm / 76 kg
81%
Driven by: crossing (16%), defensive aggression (14%), dribbling (13%). Different mechanism — Sagnan more via creativity, final-third threat; Gómez more via territory (wide vs central).
Álvaro Núñez Celta Vigo · La Liga · 174 cm / 60 kg
81%
Driven by: creativity (14%), crossing (13%), line-breaking (11%). Different mechanism — Sagnan more via defensive aggression, ball-winning; Núñez more via territory (wide vs central), receiving zones.
Xavi Espart Barcelona · La Liga · 175 cm
81%
Driven by: defensive aggression (20%), ball-winning (11%), crossing (10%). Different mechanism — Sagnan more via through-balls, passing directness; Espart more via box threat, receiving zones.
Maxima Goffi Lille · 184 cm
78%
Driven by: crossing (16%), creativity (15%), through-balls (10%). Different mechanism — Sagnan more via defensive aggression; Goffi more via box threat, territory (wide vs central).
Warren Zaïre-Emery PSG · 178 cm / 68 kg
76%
Driven by: creativity (15%), crossing (11%), line-breaking (9%). Different mechanism — Sagnan more via passing directness, defensive aggression; Zaïre-Emery more via carrying, receiving zones.
Christian Mawissa Monaco · 185 cm / 77 kg
75%
Driven by: defensive aggression (13%), dribbling (13%), ball-winning (12%). Different mechanism — Sagnan more via line-breaking; Mawissa more via transition, carrying.
17

Summary

Souleymane Sagnan is a stopper centre-back / ball-playing centre-back: 90% pass completion, 17 line-breaking passes and 4.0 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 3 matches (268 minutes) — an early read, treat with caution until more minutes are logged. 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.

Vision AI · building report