Mallorca vs Real Madrid, 2023 La Liga: Predicted lineups

 

 Real Madrid will visit Mallorca, and will do so in their absence "Eder Militao and Karim Benzema. Rodrygo will replace the French star in the XI.

Real Madrid predicted XI: Courtois, Carvajal, Nacho, Rudiger, Camavinga, Tchouameni, Modric, Ceballos, Valverde, Vinicius, Rodrygo. 

Mallorca predicted XI: Rajkovic, Copete, Raillo, Valjent, Maffeo, Galarreta, Sanchez, Costa, Kadewere, Kang-In, Muriqi.

 Real Madrid should more than beat Mallorca, but they may need time to figure things out as they are used to playing with Benzema leading the attack. Having Rodrygo won't be the same, so Los Blancos will have to find a way to stay attacking.

 This will be Real's last match before they travel to Morocco to play in the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup, meaning they won't play a La Liga game until Wednesday, February 15, when they host Elche at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

Rodrygo is Benzema's replacement for Real Madrid, with Hazard missing again The central attacking position of Real Madrid is the personal property of Karim Benzema, but, when he is not around, someone else has to step up. Until now, his absences were isolated cases, but this season they have increased. 

The captain will not be available for Sunday's game against Real Mallorca after picking up a hamstring injury against Valencia on Thursday.

 It is Benzema's ninth absence due to a physical problem, after missing 11 games last season 9 ok The solution to the absence of Benzema The solution to that problem is clear to Carlo Ancelotti and it is called Rodrygo.

Of the 10 games that the No.9 has missed (nine due to injury and Caceres being out), the Brazilian has occupied the central attacking position on nine of those occasions. 

The exception was against Real Mallorca in the first half of the season, when Ancelotti replaced Eden Hazard. The Belgian was on the field for 59 minutes and ended up 1-1, although the game ended 4-1.

 These are Hazard's last moments in LaLiga Santander so far, although that was back in September. 

Since then, he has gone 13 games without a start and two stops. Now, the Belgian is not included in the list of those called to travel to Mallorca because of "patellar tendinosis of the left knee". 

Rodrygo's position Where does Rodrygo do well? It is a debate that has been on the table for some time and a topic that Ancelotti has spoken about several times.

 "He has a good projection, more as a central striker or behind No.9 than as a winger, I see more there," the Italian said last November, explaining that, without Benzema , Rodrygo is his preferred solution.

 That makes him move Marco Asensio from the wing and transfer him to the central attack, which is what Luis Enrique did in Spain at the World Cup in Qatar. Last week, Ancelotti continued to hint at the possibility of a change in his team's performance.

 "The Rodrygo position? I like the 4-2-3-1," he said. "We can use Rodrygo, Luka Modric and Asensio in the attacking midfield. 

"We're thinking about that, it's probably the best position for Rodrygo." Of Rodrygo's nine goals in 29 games this season, four of them came in the nine times he played as a central attacker: vs RB Leipzig, Celtic, Atletico Madrid and Cacereno. 

The Real Mallorca match looks set to go into the middle of the attack again with Asensio on the right and Vinicius on the left.