Eden Hazard produced another scintillating man of the match performance as he helped Chelsea beat Newcastle United 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.

The result sees The Blues go level on points with second placed Manchester United and go eight points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City, although both Manchester sides have a game in hand.

Unfortunately for Chelsea they missed Eden at the start of the current campaign as he was rehabbing after ankle surgery. That meant the playmaker missed preseason, so even when he returned to the first team he wasn’t instantly up to speed.

In the last month and a half, Hazard has once again returned to full fitness and with that his form has improved vastly.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the Belgian maestro is a world class talent. The twenty six year old has won the Premier League title twice with the London side and in those two seasons he was his club’s best creative force. He provided plenty of assists and also bagged himself thirty goals in those seventy-four league winning fixtures.

When Hazard’s in top form; he glides across the turf, dribbles beyond numerous opponents and finds key passes with ease. Somehow the hottest talent on the park manages to continually find space and pick out teammates with his excellent vision and superb passing ability.

The forward also doesn’t go missing in the big games. He’s always buzzing around and looking for the ball, especially in the dangerous areas of the pitch. He was a star against Man United and Liverpool, a constant threat and he had his opponents on edge.

So far this term the forward has scored five league goals and made two assists, in just eight starts and four substitute appearances. He’s also scored a further three in the Champions League and had a hand in another two assists.

In his last five outings, Eden has scored five times and had two assists. Chelsea haven’t lost in that run of games either. That shows you that he’s starting to hit top form and it’s making a big impact on the rest of the Blues squad too.

After today’s victory over the Magpies at the Bridge, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte praised the attacker:

‘I think he enjoys playing this type of game. He is an important player as we can change our system’

You can tell the maverick talent is enjoying his football as he’s playing with a smile and scoring Paneka penalties. His self-confidence is admirable and when he’s happy on the park, he’s almost unstoppable.

No English top flight player has a better successful dribbles per game ratio than the Chelsea number ten. Eden also has an 84% passing success rate and makes around two key passes per game.

In this current campaign, Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne has been the Premier League’s standout player. He too possesses great vision and can craft wonderful passes for teammates.

Pundits and punters alike have been purring over De Bruyne and his City side this season. It’s obvious why when you see them sweep every side they’ve faced aside without much fuss. De Bruyne in particular has looked majestic, especially with the ball at his feet.

I think Eden Hazard will be happy to see his Belgian teammate do so well but a part of the forward will be thinking I’m the real star here and I want to show everyone that I’m the better footballer. That’s how the mind of world class player works.

The rivalry between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo has spurred the two superstars on and has made them the best in the world. Eden’s former Blues manager Jose Mourinho stated that the creative forward can be as good as either Messi or Ronaldo.

Belgium’s two gifted playmakers should look to out do each other and prove themselves as the best. The both of them could rip the rest of the league apart, with sensational performances. A friendly rivalry between the two of them could possibly get to the same level as Messi and Ronaldo.

Many will see the run that Chelsea went on last season as they overcame a sloppy start to the season to claim the league crown. It will need a similar run for them to get close to Man City this time around and for Chelsea the form of Hazard will be paramount if they’re going to have any real success this term!

Posted on December 2nd, 2017 by scott
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