It’s a huge twist of fate for LOSC, who will kick off a crazy week with three perilous trips to AS Monaco, Atlético Madrid then to RC Lens for the derby: Tiago Santos, victim of a ruptured cruciate ligaments, will be absent until the end of this season!
Will Lille have to reinvent itself? If Thomas Meunier will naturally once again become an indisputable holder at the right-back position, most often in a four-man defense as we imagine, Bruno Genesio assured that Bafodé Diakité should indeed remain in the central hinge for the future of the season among the Mastiffs.
And this despite this long unavailability of Tiago Santos. If Bruno Genesio did not fail to point out that he could call on the young Ousmane Touré, who had already occupied this position during extra time at Fenerbahçe although he is more of a central defender by training, two Algerian internationals recruited for 0 € to LOSC could well be the two most serious solutions to consider (the first having joined LOSC during the summer of 2022 from Clermont Foot and the second from Villarreal this summer).
Indeed, Aïssa Mandi could return to this right-back position, which he again occupied with Algeria during the double confrontation against Togo. A position he likes, the position he started at Stade de Reims. But we should also not forget Akim Zedadka, who still trains with the LOSC pro group and who could represent a real solution as Bruno Genesio also recalled, on the sidelines of AS Monaco – Lille. We can also point out that Thomas Meunier and Edon Zhegrova seem to get along wonderfully on the pitch, something which was a little less the case (to a lesser extent of course) between the Kosovar and Tiago Santos. With a more defensive profile behind him like Aïssa Mandi, Edon Zhegrova could also have more freedom offensively on his right wing, with real cover to protect his rear. An option that could prove interesting and not to be overlooked either.
