Trent Alexander-Arnold reveals the best Premier League opponent he has faced

Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has named ex-Chelsea winger Eden Hazard as the best player he has ever faced in the Premier League.

Hazard left the Blues for Real Madrid in 2019 in an ill-fated €100m transfer that is still yet to work out for either party, but Alexander-Arnold explained that he has still never faced a better direct threat than the 30-year-old Belgian.

“Eden Hazard, yeah. The best by probably a little bit of a distance,” Alexander-Arnold told Prime Video Sport.

Others have tested Alexander-Arnold and Liverpool, including Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne. But it has been a different kind of threat that the full-back rarely faces directly in his position.

“Maybe De Bruyne, but directly against an opponent would have to be Hazard. [His] speed, agility, his awareness, his intelligence - on and off the ball - is unreal,” the Anfield hero explained.

Hazard peaked in the Premier League. He scooped the PFA, FWA and Premier League player of the year for 2014/15, won two Premier League titles and had arguably his best individual season in 2018/19, which prompted Real Madrid to pay a huge sum for him.

Yet injury hell has tortured Hazard in Spain. He has made just 54 appearances in almost two and a half years at the Bernabeu, only two more than in his final season with Chelsea.

Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, who last faced Hazard when Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-0 at Anfield in April 2019, has gone from strength to strength. He is now one of the best full-backs in the world and has returned to his best in recent weeks after missing Euro 2020 through injury.

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