The annual dominance that we so often see in the French league from perennial winners Paris Saint Germain was brought to an astounding halt in the 2020/2021 season.
Lille clinched the Ligue 1 title for the first time in 10 years and their success brought a new wave of fan optimism for the recently concluded campaign.
However, Paris Saint Germain finished top of the pile once again to re-assert their dominance at the top of the French league, and they’re expected to win the division once again this season.
So, with that said, let’s take a look at the dead ball specialists from France’s highest tier of league football.
Takers from Ligue 1’s most popular teams
It makes a lot of sense for readers to know who the set piece takers are from the most watched teams in the division.
So, with that said, let’s take a look at the following clubs…
Paris Saint Germain
Here we have a star-studded team, but quite ironically it’s pretty easy to know who is on penalty and free kick taking duty because the personnel are so good!
For starters, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé are on penalties, although Lionel Messi would be waiting in the wings should the aforementioned two not be available on the pitch.
Mbappé does appear to be trying to pad his stats out more, so we expect him to take up the responsibility more frequently than Neymar even though the Brazilian has an exceptional record from the spot.
When it comes to free kicks and corners, we expect Lionel Messi and Neymar to take the vast majority.
AS Monaco
You can’t really look past Wissam Ben Yedder when it comes to penalties.
The Algerian is a very accurate finisher in general play, and he’s able to adapt that ability to taking penalties as well.
He’s already scored four times from the spot this season, only missing one attempt out of five.
Deputizing in his absence would be either of:
- Breel Embolo; or
- Kevin Volland
On the other hand, free kick and corner kick duty is expected to be shared between Aleksandr Golovin and Takumi Minamino.
Olympique de Marseille
France’s most popular team by fan base has a number of different penalty takers, as evidenced by the variety of scorers that they’ve had so far this campaign.
We’ve seen Alexis Sanchez, Dimitri Payet and Cengiz Ünder all convert from the spot.
However, we expect Sanchez to be the primary taker in most instances, with Payet as his very capable backup.
On the matter of free kicks and corners, these should be taken by Dimitri Payet.
He has incredible shooting technique, as you only have to see one of the best free kicks he ever scored whilst playing for West Ham United to see exactly what he’s capable of from distance:
Olympique Lyon
Finally, we have Alexandre Lacazette on penalty duty here.
The Frenchman re-joined Lyon quite recently from the English side Arsenal, and so far he’s been very efficient from the spot.
Lacazette has converted all of his four penalty attempts so far.
Set piece takers from Ligue 1’s newly promoted teams
Ligue 1 used to follow the German Bundesliga principle of having two teams go up and another two relegated to the division beneath.
But in the past season, an extra team gained promotion through a playoff match which decided who would take the final spot.
Saint Etienne lost to Auxerre in a tightly contested penalty shootout, which saw the former drop down into Ligue 2 with Auxerre earning a place in Ligue 1 for the first time since 2012.
Because I haven’t watched or seen any of the following promoted clubs in action, I’ll update their free kick and corner takers as the season gets underway.
Toulouse FC
Central midfielder Branco van den Boomen will probably retain penalty taking duty for Toulouse this season, as he comfortably dispatched all the five spot kicks he took last campaign in Ligue 2.
However, it remains to be seen who will take their corners and free kicks.
We’ll have more data on this after a few fixtures have been played.
AC Ajaccio
This team stepped up to Ligue 1 through finishing 2nd place in the Ligue 2 standings.
From what we’ve seen of them last year, their defense is relatively solid.
However, their attacking output is cause for concern as they only managed to score 39 goals last year.
New signing Thomas Mangani looks to be on penalty duty so far, having slotted one in against Olympique Lyon in the opening fixture.
This leaves the former first choice penalty taker – Riad Nouri – having to deputise in case of Mangani’s absence.
AJ Auxerre
Auxerre made it to France’s top soccer division by the skin of their teeth, overcoming Saint Etienne in a promotion/relegation playoff fixture at the end of last season.
Mathias Autret looks to be on penalties for now; scoring three times from three attempts last season.
Update – M’Baye Niang has converted from both of his attempts this season.
Which team scored the most set piece goals in the 2021-22 Ligue 1 season?
Rennes had the most goals from set pieces last season, as they recorded an impressive tally of 16 conversions from dead ball situations.
Rennes were followed closely by Strasbourg and Saint Etienne – who both recorded 13 set piece goals each.
Full Ligue 1 competition set piece takers list
Take a look at the full list of takers whilst you’re still here:
| Club | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS Monaco | Wissam Ben Yedder | Breel Embolo | Aleksandr Golovin | - | - | Aleksandr Golovin | - | - |
| RC Lens | Florian Sotoca | Seko Fofana | Seko Fofana | - | - | Seko Fofana | - | - |
| Rennes | Benjamin Bourigeaud | Lovro Majer | Benjamin Bourigeaud | - | - | Benjamin Bourigeaud | - | - |
| Nice | Andy Delort | Nicolas Pepe | Amine Gouiri | Danilo | Nicolas Pepe | Amine Gouiri | Nicolas Pepe | - |
| Lille | Jonathan David | Angel Gomes | Angel Gomes | Benjamin André | Yusuf Yazici | Yusuf Yazici | Benjamin André | Angel Gomes |
| Nantes | Ludovic Blas | Moses Simon | TBC | - | - | TBC | - | - |
| AC Ajaccio | Youcef Belaïli | Thomas Mangani | Youcef Belaïli | Riad Nouri | - | Youcef Belaïli | Riad Nouri | - |
| Brest | Romain Del Castillo | Steve Mounie | TBC | - | - | TBC | - | - |
| Troyes | Florian Tardieu | Mama Balde | Mama Balde | - | - | Mama Balde | - | - |
| Clermont | Komnen Andric | Muhammed Cham | TBC | - | - | TBC | - | - |
| Reims | Folarin Balogun | Kamory Doumbia | Arbër Zeneli | Cafaro | - | Arbër Zeneli | Doumbia | Chavalerin |
| AJ Auxerre | M'Baye Niang | Mathias Autret | Mathias Autret | - | - | Mathias Autret | - | - |
| Olympique Lyon | Alexandre Lacazette | Moussa Dembélé | Houssem Aouar | Lucas Paquetá | - | Houssem Aouar | Lucas Paquetá | - |
| Paris Saint Germain | Kylian Mbappe | Neymar | Neymar | Lionel Messi | Marco Veratti | Neymar | Lionel Messi | Marco Veratti |
| Angers | Thomas Mangani | Sofiane Boufal | Thomas Mangani | Angelo Fulgini | - | Thomas Mangani | Angelo Fulgini | - |
| Lorient | Terem Moffi | Armand Laurienté | TBC | - | - | TBC | - | - |
| FC Toulouse | Branco van den Boomen | - | TBC | - | - | TBC | - | - |
| Strasbourg | Ludovic Ajorque | Habib Diallo | Dimitri Liénard | - | - | Dimitri Liénard | - | - |
| Montpellier | Teji Savanier | Florent Mollet | Florent Mollet | Teji Savanier | - | Florent Mollet | Teji Savanier | - |
| Olympique Marseille | Alexis Sanchez | Dimitri Payet | Dimitri Payet | Cengiz Ünder | - | Dimitri Payet | Cengiz Ünder | - |
Closing thoughts
Hopefully this short article has provided a great amount of insight with regard to set piece takers in the French league.
When you have a couple of minutes to spare, you may also want to check out our guides on:
- The set piece takers for Premier League clubs;
- Set piece takers for Major League Soccer;
- Set piece takers for the UEFA Champions League;
- Dutch Eredivisie set piece specialists for 2022/2023; as well as
- Our set piece takers list for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
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