Real Sociedad and Mallorca played out a nil-nil draw in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal. Will our algorithm predict goals for the second leg or another nil-nil draw?
The second leg will take place at Sociedad’s Anoeta Stadium on Tuesday night. The first leg between the La Liga rivals was all Real Sociedad, with Mallorca doing their best to keep the Basque club out of goal.
Sociedad kept 70% of the possession and racked up 12 shots, with five on target. Mallorca only had five shots during the match, with zero hitting the target.
💙 Juntos viviremos la 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 que merecemos. Por vosotros.🏟️ Nos vemos mañana.#WeareReal pic.twitter.com/yJQxiqZtlA— Real Sociedad Fútbol (@RealSociedad) February 26, 2024
💙 Juntos viviremos la 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 que merecemos. Por vosotros.🏟️ Nos vemos mañana.#WeareReal pic.twitter.com/yJQxiqZtlA
Six yellow cards were handed out and the clubs combined for just six corners.
The Spanish rivals have everything to play for in the second leg. Yet, both teams will go into the semifinal second leg in poor form.
Mallorca won just one of their last six matches in all competitions. Their last two matches, both played in La Liga, ended without victories. The Islanders are coming off a 1-1 draw at the weekend against Deportivo Alaves.
Real Sociedad, on the other hand, are coming off a 3-1 loss at home to Villarreal. It was Sociedad’s third loss in the last four games in all competitions.
These teams played as recently as February 18. The match ended in a 2-1 win for Sociedad. Mallorca had some positives to take from the game, despite the defeat.
The Islanders led after the fourth minute thanks to a goal from Antonio Sanchez. However, Sociedad equalised on 38 minutes through Takefusa Kubo. The Royal found the winner in the 93rd minute thanks to a goal from Mikel Merino.
Mallorca had two players sent off in the match, with Antonio Jose Railo Arenas was sent just before halftime and Siebe van der Heyden was sent to the showers in the 97th minute.
Sociedad are unbeaten in their last 11 matches versus Mallorca in all competitions. Nine of the 11 matches ended with both teams not scoring goals.
Mikel Oyarzabal leads Sociedad in goal scoring numbers with 12 in all competitions. However, Oyarzabal is a major doubt due to a muscle injury. Alvaro Ordiozola is ruled out with an injury, as is Martin Merquelanz.
Mallorca’s Pablo Maffeo is ruled out of action with a knee injury. Abdon Prats leads Mallorca in goals, with 11 goals. Canadian international Cyle Larin has six goals in all competitions.
Sociedad’s defence should play well against Mallorca in the second leg of the semifinal. Our algorithm predicts a 1-0 win for Real Sociedad to qualify for the final.