Why is nobody talking about Eden Hazard for the PFA Player of the Year award?
Nobody's really looking beyond Virgil van Dijk for the PFA Player of the Year award... but should they?
Of course, the obvious answer to this question is 'Virgil van Dijk' - and of course, the Liverpool totem has been outstanding in helping transform the Reds' defence. Without him, Jurgen Klopp's side simply wouldn't be title contenders.
Remarkably, however, you can get odds of up to 100/1 on Eden Hazard landing the PFA Player of the Year award prize this season.
It hasn't helped that Chelsea have been garbage this term – let's be honest, a team that finishes sixth in the top flight is hardly going to boast the winner of English football's most prestigious individual honour. But arguably, that only makes the brilliant Belgian's performances all the more impressive.
This season, no player in the Premier League has been involved in more goals than Hazard (26; 14 goals, 12 assists). No player has created more goals. No other player has reached double figures in both categories.
Only two players in Europe's top five leagues (Sofiane Boufal, Lionel Messi) have dribbled past oppponents more often this season. Only Messi has created more chances from open play.
For Chelsea fans, the prospect of life without the 28-year-old next season is terrifying – and so it should be. Hazard has once again been the Blues' irreplaceable talisman, and a world where they're left with Willian and Pedro with Callum Hudson-Odoi desperate to get out is a dark one indeed.
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Joe was the Deputy Editor at FourFourTwo until 2022, having risen through the FFT academy and been on the brand since 2013 in various capacities.
By weekend and frustrating midweek night he is a Leicester City fan, and in 2020 co-wrote the autobiography of former Foxes winger Matt Piper – subsequently listed for both the Telegraph and William Hill Sports Book of the Year awards.