We returned after the second international break of the season with eight games on matchday 9 with two matches again put back to later dates. Many of the trends from the first eight weeks continued with Rayo Vallecano maintaining their 100% home record while Osasuna do likewise away, however Levante and Getafe are both still winless after a goalless draw between the sides on Saturday. Read on for our LaLiga matchday 9 review featuring all the results, xG data, stats and team of the week.
LaLiga Matchday 9 Results & Expected Goals
Saturday 16th October 2021
Levante 0-0 Getafe (xG: 0.83-0.56)
Real Sociedad 1-0 Mallorca (xG: 0.40-0.36)
Sunday 17th October 2021
Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Elche (xG: 1.11-0.33)
Celta Vigo 0-1 Sevilla (xG: 0.89-0.83)
Villarreal 1-2 Osasuna (xG: 0.71-0.96)
Barcelona 3-1 Valencia (xG: 2.38-0.38)
Monday 18th October 2021
Alaves 0-1 Real Betis (xG: 1.36-1.48)
Espanyol 2-0 Cadiz (xG: 1.74-0.60)
xG data in this post comes via Understat. Other stats are via Whoscored.
Matchday 9 – Stats & Star Performers
Team Stats
| Most Possession | VILLARREAL – 72.7% |
| Highest Pass Success Rate | BARCELONA – 90% |
| Lowest Pass Success Rate | OSASUNA – 64% |
| Most Shots | REAL BETIS – 19 |
| Fewest Shots | LEVANTE & OSASUNA – 6 |
| Worst Discipline | OSASUNA – 5 Yellows |
| Highest xG | BARCELONA – 2.38 |
| Lowest xG | ELCHE – 0.33 |
| xG Over-Performer | OSASUNA – 2 Goals from 0.96 xG |
| xG Under-Performer | ALAVES – 0 Goals from 1.36 xG |
| Highest Attendance | BARCELONA vs VALENCIA – 47,317 |
| Lowest Attendance | RAYO VALLECANO vs ELCHE – 6,989 |
Margins in football can be very fine and we saw plenty of evidence of that this weekend. Alaves slumped to a 7th defeat in 8 matches despite creating 1.36 xG in their game with Betis. An inability to convert chances may end up costing Javi Calleja his job but Jagoba Arrasate has no such worries after his team scored twice in victory at Villarreal despite creating less than one xG.
There was also a much more convincing display from Barcelona which temporarily eases the pressure on Ronald Koeman. Despite falling behind very early, the Catalans quickly took control of their game against Valencia with a dominant display and 3-1 victory at Camp Nou.
Individual Stats
| Most Shots | CARLES ALENA (Getafe), GONCALO GUEDES (Valencia), JOSELU (Alaves), NABIL FEKIR (Real Betis) & RAUL DE TOMAS (Espanyol) – 4 |
| Most Completed Passes | AISSA MANDI (Villarreal) – 83 |
| Most Key Passes | IAGO ASPAS (Celta Vigo) – 6 |
| Most Completed Dribbles | LUCAS BOYE (Elche) – 9 |
| Most Aerials Won | JOSELU (Alaves) – 14 |
| Most Successful Tackles | DAMIAN SUAREZ (Getafe) – 10 |
| Most Interceptions | NEMANJA RADOJA (Levante) – 6 |
| Most Fouls | NABIL FEKIR (Real Betis), JORDI ALBA (Barcelona), HUGO MALLO (Celta Vigo), LUCAS BOYE (Elche), ISI PALAZON (Rayo Vallecano), RODRIGO BATTAGLIA (Mallorca) & MAURO ARAMBARRI (Getafe) – 4 |
There were some big numbers posted by individual players on matchday 9 in LaLiga. Lucas Boye completed no fewer than 9 dribbles in Elche’s 2-1 defeat at Rayo Vallecano. That’s two more than any other player has managed in a single game in LaLiga this season. We also saw Joselu set a fresh season high of 14 aerials won. He won 13 aerials on matchday 3 and matchday 5 and continues to be by far the most dominant player in the air in the Spanish top flight.
Damien Suarez also made double figures for the amount of tackles won in Getafe’s battling 0-0 draw at Levante. William Carvalho is the only other play to have won 10 tackles in a LaLiga game this season, doing likewise on matchday 7 for Betis against Getafe.
Sorare LaLiga Fantasy Team of the Week
It was another relatively low-scoring week with only a couple of players scoring 80+. That included Barcelona’s Memphis Depay who impressed alongside Ansu Fati with Villarreal’s fit again Gerard Moreno also on the scoresheet and in the team of the week despite Villarreal’s loss to Osasuna.
The absence of players from the big two Madrid clubs made it a bit easier for players from some of the other clubs to get a look in with the defensive positions dominated by players from that 0-0 draw between Levante and Getafe.
Sorare Player of the Week: Damian Suarez (91)
A surprise this week, with those ten successful tackles helping Getafe defender Damian Suarez claim the player of the week crown.
Sorare is a Fantasy Football platform with one of the most advanced scoring matrices. All players are scored from 0-100 based on performance. You can read our latest Sorare content here to find out more about it.
Read More: Winless Levante & Getafe wield the axe
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