Real Madrid: Five bold predictions for the rest of the season
By Parshva Shah
Asensio will seal the third slot in attack
Although all of us knew not to expect Marco Asensio to start against Eibar, he didn’t even make an appearance off the bench despite Zidane having five substitutions at his disposal.
Zidane knows his players well and he knows exactly when to play which player. Rodrygo was the surprise inclusion in the starting line-up against Eibar, playing on the right wing and occasionally switching flanks with Eden Hazard.
With Valencia and Real Sociedad the next two opponents, Zidane might be saving him for the two toughest encounters en route to winning the La Liga.
Having not set foot on the pitch in almost a year, Asensio must not be expected to be up and running and hitting the sort of levels he hit before his untimely injury. However, come the end of the season, Asensio should be the only jigsaw remaining in the attacking puzzle.
The Spaniard has stiff competition in the form of Rodrygo, Gareth Bale, Vinícius Júnior, Lucas Vázquez, James Rodríguez, Isco, and Brahim Díaz to some extent.
However, 2019-20 was supposed to be Asensio’s season had it not been for the ligament injury against Arsenal during the preseason.
All Madridistas hope that Asensio can regain the spot that he deserves and put an end to the right-wing woes.
Big Benz will reach 20 La Liga goals
With 10 more games to go and having scored 14 goals already, Karim Benzema will reach the 20-goal mark in La Liga.
The Frenchman put on an enlivening show in the first-half against Eibar, once again proving his critics wrong and demonstrating that his game is much more than just finding the back of the net.
2020 hasn’t been as generous to Big Benz though, as he had scored just two league goals in his last 12 appearances. He is out of the Pichichi race by a mile, but he can certainly surpass the 20-goal milestone for the second consecutive season.
If he can rediscover his 2019 goal-scoring touch, he might even have a chance at 25 goals.