Mo Salah and Eden Hazard have been thrown into the same debate for years since becoming superstars at Liverpool and Chelsea, even though the comparison has never been especially neat.
Hazard was Chelsea’s main man, the player who could change a game in an instant with a moment of brilliance. He met Salah at Stamford Bridge before the Egyptian rebuilt himself in Italy and then became an output-driven phenomenon at Liverpool.
There has never seemed to be any real bitterness between them, with Salah speaking about Hazard as his best friend in football. Even so, they are forever pushed into the same argument, as happened again on The Rest Is Football.
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Alexander Isak pictured with his arms outstretched during Liverpool's Premier League match against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Cody Gakpo reacts during Liverpool's Premier League match against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
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Gary Lineker questions why Mo Salah and Eden Hazard are compared, but compares all the same
That was the backdrop to the latest discussion, with Hazard’s highlights prompting another round of the same old Salah vs Hazard debate.
Gary Lineker made it clear he does not really understand why the two are always paired off, only to step straight into the comparison anyway.
Lineker said: “It always seems to be a debate about these two players, which one’s the best. And I don’t know why they go with these two cuz they’re very different players, personalities, but they’re both diminutive. And that’s Eden Hazard and Mo Salah. They’re different, aren’t they? For Comparisons and stuff.”
Micah Richards then tried to explain the difference by clarifying their strengths with a rather bold comparison.
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He said: “I don’t want to say it’s the same, but it’s like Messi as a football player and Ronaldo a goal scorer. Different. They’re just different, aren’t they? Mo Salah takes more pride in scoring goals. Hazard takes more pride in maybe creating or doing something magical. So they’re different players, I would say.”
Alan Shearer agreed with that reading and suggested the debate often comes down to what a viewer values most.
Shearer said: “Yeah. I would I would go along with that. I mean his numbers obviously don’t compare with goals, but you’ve got more chance of getting the spectacular from Eden Hazard than you have Mo Salah. Not that he can’t produce the spectacular as we’ve seen it, but more pleasing on the eye, maybe.”
That is why this conversation never really disappears. Hazard was the more naturally aesthetic footballer, the one who could make a match feel like a highlights reel, but Salah turned his qualities into a much greater body of work.
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Mohamed Salah of Liverpool looks on during the Premier League match between Brentford and Liverpool at Gtech Community Stadium
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You can absolutely argue Hazard had the more effortless talent. But he did not live up to it in the way Salah did, and that is what ultimately separates them.
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