Jeff Stelling cheekily claimed that Phil Thompson would pick Liverpool midfielder Fabinho ahead of Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard.
The Sky Sports presenter notably snubbed the former Liverpool player when asking the Soccer Saturday panel who was better out of Hazard and Mohamed Salah.
Thompson went to pipe up to share his opinion and Stelling shut him down to say that the pundit would likely take Fabinho ahead of Hazard due to his loyalty to the Reds.
“Of course I’m not asking you Thompson, it goes without saying,” said Stelling on Soccer Saturday (Sky Sports News, April 13th, 12:59).
“You’d take Fabinho ahead of Hazard I know what it’s like.”
OPINION
It was amusing to see Thompson denied an opinion on the Hazard-Salah debate as he clearly would have picked the Liverpool winger. However it’s worth noting that the majority of his fellow pundits opted for Hazard. While it’s true that the Blues playmaker, who earns £225,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac) is a fantastic talent, it’s easy to argue why Salah should be rated above him. The Reds winger has been involved with 31 goals this season across his 44 outings, and scored an amazing 44 goals in 52 appearances in his 2017/18 campaign. Hazard has never managed to score 44 goals in one season, few have, so why shouldn’t Thompson be able to say Salah is better? While it’s true the pundit’s connection to Liverpool can sometimes cloud his judgement that isn’t the case here. If the pundit had gone on to claim that Fabinho was better than Hazard then he could be questioned. As while the 25-year-old midfielder has done well this season, he isn’t as good as Hazard as it currently stands.
