“His intelligence on and off the ball is just unreal” - Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold named his toughest opponent 

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has named Real Madrid winger Eden Hazard as the toughest opponent he has ever faced.

Hazard and Alexander-Arnold engaged in some memorable duels over the years during the Belgian's time at Chelsea.

Hazard was considered one of the best players in the world during his time at Stamford Bridge. His extraordinary skills, along with agility, intelligence, and other fantastic attributes made Hazard one of the elites.

Alexander-Arnold echoed the same, as he said (via Madrid Zone):

"Toughest opponent I've ever faced? Eden Hazard. Speed, agility, awareness, his intelligence on and of the ball is just unreal."

Fans might remember the blinder Hazard scored at Anfield during the League Cup clash against Liverpool.

Watch Eden Hazard's masterclass against the Reds:

Hazard made 352 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 110 goals and providing 92 assists. He won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, one League Cup, and two UEFA Europa League trophies with the Blues.

The Belgian ace, however, has failed to replicate the same sort of form since his over €105 million move to Real Madrid. Since joining Los Blancos in 2019, Hazard has only scored seven goals and provided 11 assists in 73 games for real Madrid.

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Liverpool star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain reacted to the shock defeat against Brentford

Liverpool were given a reality check by Brentford as Jurgen Klopp's side suffered a devastating 3-1 defeat in the Premier League away clash on January 2. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, scorer of the sole goal during the game, reacted to the loss, saying (via the Reds' official website):

"[It was] tough. We just weren’t good enough. We knew it was going to be a difficult game, we knew their threat around the set-pieces and we didn’t do well enough. We got away with a couple of [goals] with VAR ruling them out, but they were the warning signs and in the end we conceded a sloppy second goal after the restart after we sort of got away with that."

He added:

"Then at 2-0 it’s difficult. I think at times we did well and we created some good moments but we didn’t carry on doing the same things that got us that success. We came looking for the ball to feet a little bit too much I think and stopped offering in behind and causing them problems."

Liverpool will next face Wolverhampton Wanderers away in the third round of the FA Cup on January 7.