Team Focus: Could Saint Etienne Qualify for the Champions League?

It's fair to say that PSG aren't romping to success in Ligue 1 as many expected, which is undoubtedly a positive for the league’s reputation. The Parisians have lost to lowly Sochuax and Reims in recent weeks and while Ancelotti's side stutter one team is charging up the table at quite a pace.

Christophe Galtier used the winter break and January transfer window thereafter to strengthen his squad, and the idea of his best eleven in turn, and Saint Etienne have started 2013 in blistering form. The likes of Aubameyang and Brandão will rightly be credited for the goals they’ve scored but tactical changes made by the manager should not be overlooked.

Here we'll take a look at some of the key adjustments that have influenced the recent success at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, with les Verts' current 8-game unbeaten streak (including 6 victories) only bettered by 5 teams in Europe's top 5 leagues.

The fact that the run came after a string of 6 matches without a win suggests that the coach has reassessed his squad over the past few months and the balance of the side is impressive at the moment.

The main shift has seen former Marseille forward Brandão feature more prominently since the turn of the year having signed for the club in the summer. The Brazilian has been handed the central role in what is effectively an attacking front three and has flourished, starting 6 times since the first game back in January. Saint Etienne have won all 6 of those matches, with the 32 year old netting 6 goals in the process, and while his inclusion has forced star man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wide, the move has been profitable all round.

Now playing from the right hand side, having started 15 games as the central striker this season, the Gabon international's direct style has allowed him to cut in and be even more effective. The 23 year old has scored in each of his last 6 league games, and though he started through the middle and scored against Reims, the game represented the side's only draw in their last 7 matches, with Aubameyang playing the rest from wide.

The fact that he is more dangerous from those areas is proven by his stats this season. In 10 games starting on either the right or the left he has scored 9 goals and picked up 4 assists. In comparison, in the 15 matches he's started through the middle he has just 5 goals and 3 assists. Indeed, his averages for shots (4.1), key passes (1.5) and successful dribbles (0.8) when playing as a wide forward / winger are all higher than the corresponding figures when he's played up front.

On the opposite flank the capture of Yohan Mollo, whose promise has finally earned him a move to a top half club, has also been key.  At just 23 the French youth international has played for 5 clubs in less than 3 years, including an unsuccessful stint in La Liga with Granada, but his early form at Saint Etienne should see him settle down for now.

Featuring in all 8 (starting 7) of the side’s games since the return of domestic action in Ligue 1, Mollo is yet to taste defeat with his new club and has already registered 3 goals and 2 assists. His averages of 1.8 key passes per game and 1.6 accurate crosses per game are team highs thus far, keeping the likes of Gradel and Hamouma on the sidelines, and his more natural wing play on the left allows Aubameyang to attack the deliveries he puts into the box from the opposite side.

The midfield was bolstered by the addition of Renaud Cohade in the summer and has since been added to with the signing of the experienced Mathieu Bodmer from PSG, while Clément, Lemoine and Guilavogui all offer good competition for places. Cohade has been pushed further forward but is by no means a traditional trequartista, starring for Valenciennes last season in the double pivot, but he offers a solid all round contribution at both ends, with 3 goals and 6 assists but also 1.9 tackles and 1 interception per game.

That solidity in central areas, particularly from the impressive Clément, allows their aforementioned attacking talents the freedom to break at pace, with Saint Etienne netting more goals on the counter attack (5) than any other team in France. However, a horrific injury to the 28 year old in the side's most recent 4-0 win over Nice has ended Clément's season, with the team losing their top tackler (3.8 per game) and interceptor (2.6 per game) in the process and likely to need some time to adjust to his absence.

Their defensive strength is the platform from which they've built their success, losing just 3 of their last 22 league games having been defeated in 3 of their opening 5. The side have experienced full-backs in Jonathan Brison and Francois Clerc who are crucial as they don't tend to get much protection from the wide forwards. Both get through a lot of defensive work in turn, averaging 2.7 and 2.3 tackles per game respectively, along with 2.4 and 2.1 interceptions per match.

Meanwhile, at centre-back Loic Perrin and Moustapha Bayal Sall have built a strong partnership in front of Stéphane Ruffier, while hot prospect Kurt Zouma ensures that the side have three very effective defenders who are comfortable playing out from the back. The shield in front of them means that they don't have to get through a great amount of tackles but both Perrin and Sall read the game very well, making 2.1 and 2.5 interceptions per game respectively, while all three have a pass accuracy in excess of 85%.

The side have kept 13 clean sheets this season, bettered only by league leaders PSG, and their league tally of just 19 goals conceded is also only marginally worse off than the French moneybags. The meeting between the two sides later this month will perhaps be the real test of Galtier's side's credentials but if they can keep up their current vein of form a Champions League place is by no means beyond them, currently sitting 4th, just 7 points off the top.