0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1: They are. Kylian MbappeThe last eight Real Madrid games, and the goals he scored in that time. It’s his worst goalscoring haul at club level since 2021, and it’s a streak that has some anxious Madrid fans asking: was it all a fluke?
Mbappé was Madrid’s most high-profile arrival since signing last summer. Cristiano Ronaldo15 years ago, with more than 70,000 fans to welcome the Bernabeu. It was a ready-made superstar, approaching his peak, flying from within. Paris Saint Germain As a free agent to take the Spanish and European champions to the next level.
At least, that was the idea: Mbappé would make a good team even better, the way Madrid scored goals on their way to another league title. Instead, Mbappé is a third of the way through his first season at Real Madrid — and approaching Wednesday’s visit to Anfield. Liverpool — faces the kind of skepticism he’s never had to contend with before.
In coach Carlo Ancelotti’s news conference ahead of Sunday’s match La Liga game on Leganésfive of the 13 questions were about Mbappé. Journalists asked about his position on the pitch, his involvement in training and even irresponsibly speculated about his mental health.
Mbappé missed the last two France Squads have only stepped up testing. National team coach Didier Deschamps pleaded with the media to “leave. [Mbappé] alone” earlier this month, but his vague explanations for his team captain’s absence didn’t help. He said Mbappé wanted to play, but had not decided.
Rightly, Ancelotti has said “it’s only a matter of time” before Mbappé comes good. I’m a round Sunday’s 3-0 win in Leganés, From a new character on the left side of the attackBefore playing Liverpool in the Champions League was a step in the right direction. Madrid can do with a win at Anfield after losing two of their first four matches in the new league stage of the Champions League. Mbappé could do with a statement performance to silence his critics.
Ahead of that game, we take a look at Mbappé’s stats this season to see how he’s underperformed, and if there’s enough reason to believe that the early His poor form this season may just be a blip.
to score
Forget all other statistics, at least for a moment, because Mbappé’s success or failure at Real Madrid will be determined by how many goals he scores. last season, Jude Bellingham (19) And Vinicius Jr (15) Scored most for Madrid in La Liga. Overtaking them would be minimal, but if Mbappé comfortably tops those tallies — let’s say with 25-30 goals, as he did in his last four seasons at PSG — it’s done. Complaints about the rate, or how often he was caught offside. , will soon be forgotten.
To date, Mbappé has nine goals in 17 appearances for Real Madrid in all competitions, and seven goals in 12 in La Liga. This made him Madrid’s second top scorer behind Vinicius, who has 12 in all competitions and eight in La Liga. The bottom line is that while Vinícius is outperforming his expected goals (xG), converting more chances than you’d expect, Mbappé is doing the opposite. His seven league goals have come at an XG of 8.83. In the Champions League, it’s even worse, scoring once in four games, with an xG of 2.68.
Mbappé’s finishing is not usually like this. At PSG, he has outscored his XG six times in a row. League 1 Seasons from 2018 to 2024. Whether it’s nerves, desire to impress, his positioning, opposition or other less tangible factors, he is no longer so clinical and his shot numbers are his. Support assessment. In 12 La Liga games, Mbappé has taken 57 shots, more than any player in Spain’s top flight. Only Manchester City in Europe’s top five leagues Erling Holland (62) has taken more. La Liga’s top scorer with 15 goals, BarcelonaOf Robert Lewandowskihas taken 10 fewer shots than Mbappé in two more games.
Of Mbappé’s 57 shots, only 27 were on target, a hit rate of 47.4%. This puts Mbappé 125th out of 461 forwards in Europe’s top five leagues who have played five or more games in terms of their shot percentage on target. In La Liga alone, 21 forwards have been more accurate in their shooting than Mbappé this season, including Celta VigoOf Borja Iglesias (58.8%), Lewandowski (57.4%) and Real beats‘ Stop the waiter (55.6%).
Given these high-volume figures, Mbappé’s shots-on-goal conversion rate, naturally poor, is 12.3%. This makes Mbappé the 48th deadliest forward in La Liga this season, and 230th among forwards in Europe’s top five leagues. To put it in context, Atlético MadridOf Alexander Sorluth — who haven’t seen a consistent finisher this season — has a better conversion rate (17.9%). Lewandowski’s is an impressive 31.9%. Elsewhere, the Netherlands has 19.4%, ChelseaOf Nicholas Jackson is at 25% and Harry Kane is at 30.4 percent. Bayern Munich.
It’s not like Mbappé is regularly shooting from distance. Fully 84.2% of his shots are taken inside the box, 73.7% of them on his preferred right foot. But getting into goal-scoring positions isn’t always straightforward. Mbappé’s run is over, especially in October 4-0 Classico When Barcelona lost He contended with an unfavorable record.Caught offside eight times. It was a career high, and the joint-highest figure recorded by a La Liga player over the past 15 years.
Creating possibilities
Of course, being a Real Madrid center forward is not. only About scoring. Mbappé’s predecessor in Madrid’s number 9 shirt was Karim Benzemaa player who built his reputation on unselfish combination play and raised the bar for what we can reasonably expect in the position. And Mbappé is not Benzema.
This season, Mbappé has created a respectable 13 chances in LaLiga — a stat that combines key passes and assists. This compares with Barcelona’s 44. RapunhaAn early candidate for Player of the Season. Madrid teammate Vinícius has created 29 chances, more than twice as many as Mbappé. Antoine Griezmann And Lamin yamel Both have scored 26. A total of 14 LaLiga forwards — out of 127 who have played at least one minute this season — have created more chances than Mbappé. When we narrow our focus to “creating big chances” for teammates — defined as situations where a player should be reasonably expected to score — Mbappé has La Liga I have only two. That’s well behind Raphinha with 14, Yamal with 12 and Griezmann and Vinícius with seven.
Mbappé’s passing stats are strong, reflecting Madrid’s possession in all but two of their games this season. He has completed 300 of 351 passes attempted in La Liga, a completion rate of 85.5%. Only five La Liga forwards have completed more. When we look at the more useful stats, progressive passes — passes that take the ball 10+ yards forward or into the penalty area — he played, 51, behind only Griezmann. Iago SpasYamal and Rafinha, although only completing 17 percent of them, are 23rd among La Liga forwards in that category.
Beyond passing, one of Mbappé’s great strengths has always been his ability to get forward with the ball at his feet. This season in La Liga, he has made 113 progressive carries (defined as when a player moves the ball at least five meters towards goal) into the opposition half. Just four players — Vinícius, Real Betis’ Abde AzalzouliYamal et al Athletic ClubOf Nico Williams — is more
Off the ball work
It’s easy — and perhaps unfair — to laugh at some of Mbappé’s more eye-opening defensive stats this season; Just try to keep a straight face.
In 12 La Liga games, he has made one tackle. In 1,025 minutes on the field, he made no clearances, made no interceptions, and blocked no shots. He has only won three aerial doubles. He recovered the ball just 17 times compared to Rafinha’s 45, Yamal’s 44, and teammate Vincenzo’s 31. 18 in La Liga this season, which puts them 78th among the league. 127 forward. His 18 defensive interventions compare with 80 for Rafinha, 62 for Griezmann, and 56 for Lewandowski.
It is not surprising that a constant and growing criticism of Mbappé has been around his contribution when Madrid have been out of possession. A steady stream of screenshots and video clips have been shared on social media, showing Mbappé returning to his goal, as teammates race to deal with another opposition attack.
Mbappé has put pressure on an opposition player who has been in possession 49 times this season. It ranks 52nd among La Liga forwards in terms of pressure. Of those, 31 came in the “high intensity” category and only four of those resulted in Madrid winning the ball back. This compares to Vinícius’ 140 compressions — three times as many — of which 106 were at high intensity, leading to 46 recoveries. Even Lewandowski, at 36, outdoes Mbappé here, with 70 pressures, and 18 resulting recoveries.
Apart from Mbappé’s individual stats, there is also a perception that his desire to find a comeback was contagious and affected the entire team. He and Vinicius are two of three forwards, along with Celta’s Spas, who have spent the most time in La Liga this season. Mbappé has spent 76% of his time walking or jogging on the pitch, although he has also registered 35 sprints per game, placing him 22nd among La Liga forwards, close to where you’d expect such a forward. Will look for a player with explosive physicality.
Mbappé’s performance against Leganes on Sunday was not spectacular. He played 83 minutes at Butarque, scoring once, and had another goal disallowed for offside. His goal — a direct, close-range tap-in — came from Vinícius, the first time he has provided an assist for Mbappé in LaLiga this season. And it comes from a new role, at least with Madrid, as Mbappé starts on the left side of the attack, with Vinícius in the middle.
It’s a positional switch Ancelotti previously dismissed as unlikely given Vinícius’ world-class effectiveness on the left. The coach pointed out. Brazil The star’s fatigue after the international break explained this time, saying that playing as a winger is more tiring, and Mbappé was fresher than his team-mate. Maybe we should take Ancelotti at his word, or maybe this was an excuse to finally justify putting Mbappé in the role where he has played his best football.
“I started in a different position,” Mbappé said after the game. “But like I said the first day I got here, I can play in different positions… that’s the story of my career. I Can play as a front two. I don’t mind. What I want to do is play well, help the team To do and to score.”
With Vinicius now out injured for three to four weeks. And unavailable to make the trip to Anfield, Mbappé will be under even more pressure to do exactly the same against Liverpool.