Mohamed Salah has lit up the Premier League throughout his career with great dribbling down the wing, but a Chelsea player has come for his crown, according to Eden Hazard.
Since joining Liverpool, Salah has been one of the Premier League’s most talented dribblers, often causing full-backs problems by using his pace to his advantage.
But as the game advances, even more footballers concentrate on their ability with the ball at their feet, providing Salah with more competition than ever before.
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Everyone has their favourite dribbler, but few people are better equipped to weigh in on the subject than Hazard, who made a career out of beating players with the ball at his feet.
Eden Hazard believes Cole Palmer is a better dribbler
Hazard has revealed he thinks Chelsea’s Cole Palmer is a better dribbler than Salah right now, choosing him as the best in the top flight of English football.
The Chelsea legend told the Premier League, “You touch my heart, I have to say Cole Palmer,” when he was brought into the winner-stays-on game of dribblers.
Hazard also chose Palmer over Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze and new Liverpool signing Alexander Isak.
While Palmer was Hazard’s ultimate dribbler, he also chose Eze over Mohammed Kudus, as the Belgian gave his thoughts on people’s dribbling skills.
Palmer hasn’t been able to showcase much of his dribbling attributes this season due to his nagging calf injury, but the England international is notorious for his quality with the ball at his feet.
The 23-year-old has been a consistent goal and assist contributor since joining Chelsea, which led to Jody Morris comparing Palmer to Hazard.
Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool struggles this season support Eden Hazard’s belief
Some Liverpool fans might be in disbelief at Palmer being seen as a better dribbler than Salah, but the Egyptian forward is having a tough start to the season.
Salah has only completed one of his 11 attempted dribbles so far this season, which is a worrying statistic for Arne Slot.
He’s also not attempting to dribble as often, as last season he tried 3.5 dribbles per 90 minutes, with a success rate of 39.3 across all competitions.
Comparatively, this season, he has attempted just 1.6 per 90, with a much lower success rate of only 20 per cent.
It’s an area of Salah’s game that appears to be getting weaker as time goes by, which might be due to age, or potentially because defenders are now marking him differently to combat his strength.