The 34-year-old will beat off competition from Robert Lewandowski, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.
The Ballon d’Or is given for performances in the previous season rather than the calendar year. Karim Benzema was on fire during the 2021/22 season for Real Madrid. The Frenchman is expected to win his first Golden Ball after Luka Modric won last year’s award.
As Carlo Ancelotti’s side won the La Liga and Champions League double, he scored 44 goals in 46 appearances across all competitions. Following that, he scored again in the decisive second leg against Chelsea, before scoring three more times in the semi-final first and second legs against Manchester City.
This is reflected in the current betting odds, which have Benzema as a huge 1/33 favourite over Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, who is priced at 12/1.
In the meantime, Benzema’s Real Madrid teammate Thibaut Courtois is expected to win the Yashin Award for best performing goalkeeper.
Last season, he made 52 appearances for Los Blancos in all competitions, conceding 46 goals and keeping 22 clean sheets.
Courtois would be the first recipient of the award, with Alisson of Liverpool and Gianluigi Donnarumma of Paris Saint-Germain winning in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Another prestigious award given on the night is the Kopa award, which is given to the best-performing player under the age of 21.
Barcelona’s Dani Gavi is expected to win the Kopa award for best young player.
