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November is upon us; the temperatures are dropping and it's time for players to pull their gloves on. All the European leagues have now gone past the first quarter and it's fair to say that the fans now have an idea of the direction in which they are headed.
Also, we're now just a month away from knowing who will walk away in 2019 with the most prestigious individual award in football. This year, the competition for the Ballon d'Or trophy has not been a two-horse race as it has been for the past decade.
With several top players making a strong case for themselves, there is really no saying which way this one could end up going. Is Cristiano Ronaldo's and Lionel Messi's duopoly going to continue or is someone else finally taking over? All we can do is speculate.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the Ballon d'Or Power Rankings for the month of November, 2019.
#10 Eden Hazard
When a player is almost certain to leave his club for another one, it's not resolved as amicably all the time as it was between Eden Hazard and Chelsea. In fact, the Belgian had one of his best seasons in 2018-19 and was the single pulling force behind the Blues qualifying for the UEFA Champions League this term.
However, Hazard's move to Real Madrid hasn't worked out as he would have liked, so far. He seems to have been bogged down by the hype and is yet to really get himself going at the Bernabeu. However, he finally scored his first goal and registered an assist in the Blancos' 4-2 win over Granada.
Hazard stumbled greatly in the rankings and Real Madrid's form as a team hasn't helped him either. For now, he stays at number 10 on the rankings.
Also check out:Champions league top scorers Premier League Table EPL fixtures
#9 Kylian Mbappe
Kylian Mbappe has established himself as Paris Saint-Germain's main man this season. The Frenchman missed PSG's first league game in October due to a thigh problem, but returned for their clash against Nice and bagged a goal and assist.
He also found the net twice in a 4-0 win against Marseille to take his tally for the season to 4 (at the time).
Mbappe also starred for his side on the European stage, netting a hat-trick and providing an assist for Mauro Icardi's goal against Club Brugge. The 20-year-old needed just 38 minutes to make an impact after having started the game on the bench.
With just another month or so until the winner of the Ballon d'Or is announced, Mbappe will look to continue running riot in Ligue 1, to further cement his case for a spot on the podium.
#8 Alisson Becker
Alisson Becker won the Best Goalkeeper Award at The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 and would have made a strong case to make it to the podium had the beginning of his 2019-20 season not been blighted by an injury.
It is not even up for debate whether or not Jurgen Klopp's team has improved since the arrival of the Brazilian. In fact, two of Liverpool's latest big investments- Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson have been as vital as anyone else in the Reds being crowned Champions of Europe.
Alisson has both the UEFA Champions League and Copa America in his cabinet and would have found himself sitting well ahead in the rankings had an injury not slowed him down in the first game of the season against Norwich City.
He is back now but is yet to keep a clean sheet in 3 appearances though Liverpool hasn't lost in any.
#7 Kevin de Bruyne
Kevin de Bruyne is easily one of the best central midfielders in the world. However, he didn't get much of a chance to prove that in the past month. Having played only 3 games for Manchester City in the month of October, De Bruyne wasn't at his imperial best and could only muster one assist from them.
Manchester City find themselves trailing Liverpool by a fair margin right now and they will need all their top players firing on all cylinders to mount a title challenge to the slightly more consistent Merseysiders.
And for Pep Guardiola's machine to work effortlessly, they need the Belgian midfielder to be bossing games week in and week out- something he has done easily in the past. De Bruyne was on fire in September and will be hoping to get back to his best this month.
#6 Bernardo Silva
Bernardo Silva did not have a great month and in a team that's as star-studded as Pep Guardiola's Manchester City is, it is difficult for even someone of the Portuguese diminutive midfielder's ability to play week in and week out.
However, when he has featured, the 25-year-old has been pretty good. Bernardo Silva racked up 2 assists in the month of October with the first one coming against Crystal Palace in City's 2-0 win over them and the second one coming in City's 3-1 win over Southampton.
Well, he might not make it to the podium this year but Pep Guardiola can rest assured in the knowledge that when the senior Silva (David) retires, he won't have to deal with a void in midfield as the Portuguese Silva has proven that he is more than capable of succeeding the absolute maestro the former is.
#5 Sadio Mane
Between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, the question of who is the better one is still a hot topic of debate. Though Mane seems to be more capable from a technical standpoint, Mohamed Salah proves to be just as effective on the field. However, the Egyptian's gift of finding goals consistently has overshadowed Mane's reliability this past month.
Having featured 6 times for Liverpool in the month of October, the Senegalese international scored 3 goals. The first came against Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League. The second one came in Liverpool's 2-1 win over Leicester City. More importantly in that game, Mane won the penalty that won Liverpool the game in stoppage time.
His third goal of October came against Genk in the UEFA Champions League. It is rarely that Mane goes a month without mustering an assist and this past month was one such affair for the 27-year-old.
#4 Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah
Two men who really don't need any introduction with the former more so than the latter. Ronaldo has always been a goalscoring machine and he continues to be one as he kicks on with leading Juventus from the front. In the past month, Ronaldo scored 4 goals and put in two man of the match performances.
At the age of 34-years-old, Ronaldo's athleticism and hunger for goal is unmatched. As for Mohamed Salah, normal services has been restored and the Egyptian finds himself among goals as he usually does.
Salah scored 4 goals and registered an assist in the month of October. Mo Salah missed Liverpool's most important away fixture of the season against Manchester United but he made sure that his tally does not reflect his absence in any manner.
Either Ronaldo or Salah or maybe even both could make it to the podium this year.
#3 Virgil van Dijk
It would be safe to say that Virgil van Dijk would have been hoping for a better month with respect to his Ballon d'Or hopes. This human roadblock of a defender was not at his very best in the past month.
Van Dijk featured 5 times for Liverpool and twice for the Netherlands international team in October but did not keep even one clean sheet. To his merit, he hasn't lost one either but when the stakes are as high as they are when it comes to the Ballon d'Or, these finer numbers end up mattering a lot.
Van Dijk continues to be the best centre-back in the world right now but this might not be the year when he walks away with the most coveted individual prize in football. However, we are not going to shut ourselves down to the idea and wouldn't be too surprised if the Dutchman breaks the trend and wins the Ballon d'Or over the rest of the competition.
After all, he won the UEFA Champions League and was the runners-up in the UEFA Nations League.
#2 Raheem Sterling
The English tabloids can say whatever they want but when it comes to playing football, there are very few names you can put next to Raheem Sterling at the moment. Evolving to become Pep Guardiola's trump card in a team full of top footballers is no mean feat and Sterling's numbers will underline that.
The 24-year-old was in blistering form again last month and started off his month scoring 2 goals and mustering an assist in England's racism controversy stricken tie against Bulgaria. Subsequently, he raked in an assist against Crystal Palace and scored a hattrick against Atlanta in the UEFA Champions League. He also got an assist.
To top it off, Sterling scored again in City's last game of the month against Aston Villa and is almost certain to make it to the podium this year with numbers only the most elite can match.
#1 Lionel Messi
When Lionel Messi decides to turn it up a notch, the world sits back and takes note. October has been one such month, a month where the Argentinian reminded us that he is perhaps the most gifted player to have grazed the football field.
Messi was absolutely unstoppable and operating at a level most players couldn't dream of reaching in their entire careers. Just to put it in context, Messi registered 5 back to back man of the match performances for Barcelona. Just how good is that?
He has 5 goals and 3 assists to his name in the past month and holding individual records worthy of putting others to shame over the past year, Lionel Messi has returned to being our top pick to walk away with the Ballon d'Or next month.
He was particularly menacing in Barcelona's final fixture of October against Real Valladolid where he scored twice and assisted 2 more as La Blaugrana won with 5 goals to 1.
