Real Madrid: 3 bold predictions for the month of November

EDEN HAZARD WILL PLAY A BIG ROLE IN THE TEAM

Eden Hazard has found opportunities hard to come by this season but the door is slowly opening up for him. He had a brief cameo against Elche and could have scored his first goal of the season had it not been for some poor decision-making and selfishness by Mariano. Rodrygo’s injury could even lead to Hazard starting at the Bernabeu against Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday evening.

He will also get the chance to leave his Madrid pressures behind for a couple of weeks and head on international duty with a Belgium side on which expectations are slightly low. At Belgium, Hazard has a leading role regardless of his form and fitness, so he will look to make a mark and boost his morale when his nation faces Estonia and Wales a fortnight or so later in the month.

Ancelotti has selected his players on merit this season rather than on the basis of their past contributions, but the Italian is obliged to give a chance or two to Hazard sooner or later, right from the start. It will be great to see Hazard get a large number of minutes besides two in-form players like Benzema and Vinicius, with there being a good chance of that happening in this week itself.

Hazard’s solitary contribution to the goal-scoring department this season has been an assist in the very first match of the season against Alaves. While he has looked good in recent displays for the plain eye, the numbers must reflect his performances and unfortunately, that has not been the case so far. Fixtures against Sheriff and Shakhtar this month are the ones Hazard should target in order to up his numbers and provide Ancelotti with a selection headache.