Football Season Guide

Clermont will play their second season ever in Ligue 1 in 2022-23, having survived last term by four points. Pascal Gastien’s side made an express start to the campaign by picking up eight points in their first four matches, which proved to be almost 25% of their total over the course of the season. It was decisive in keeping them up. Clermont also proved dangerous opponents, though. While they struggled in key relegation matchups against teams around them, they beat Champions League hopefuls Rennes, Nice and Marseille in the middle part of the season and also recorded a victory over defending champions Lille. This was achieved by sticking to principles well founded by Gastien, which see them try to control possession and express a technical advantage over their opponents. These will not change this season. What is different about Clermont this term is that they have lost top scorer Mohamed Bayo to Lille, while Salis Abdul Samed, Cedric Hountondji and Akim Zedadka, who were also key starting players in the team have departed too. These losses promise to be very difficult for Clermont to overcome. Indeed, so desperate have they been to find the right players, they have even paid fees for two replacements: Mateusz Wieteska and Komnen Andric from Legia Warsaw and Dinamo Zagreb respectively. Both are unknown quantities. They had only bought one player for money previously in the whole history of the club. Maxime Gonalons, a former Lyon star, has arrived to replace Abdul Samed in the midfield and is due to be a key figure while Mehdi Zeffane joins from Bordeaux as an alternative option at right-back. Both are experienced Ligue 1 players. Meanwhile, Neto Borges arrives from Genk as the starting left-back with Vital Nsimba having been released. Of the existing squad, quality remains. Elbasan Rashani is a good option out wide, while Jodel Dossou and Jim Allevinah will both have their moments this season. Yohann Magnin will expect to be stronger in midfield after a long-term injury hit him last term and Johan Gastien will again the their metronome. Defensively, they are not so strong but they try not to rely on this sector, while even goalkeeper Ouparine Djoco can be erratic.