Forget Neymar and Ronaldo, Zaha is the hardest player Arnold has faced

Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha during the Premier League match at Selhurst Park, London

Monday Oct 22, 2018. 15:00

Liverpool fullback Trent Alexander-Arnold has revealed that despite coming up against some of the best players in world football, Ivory Coast international Wilfried Zaha is the hardest opponent he has faced.

Alexander-Arnold, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise at Anfield, played a key role in helping the Reds to the UEFA Champions League final last year and duly starred for England at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The 20-year-old went head-to-head with former Real Madrid star Ronaldo in Kiev before squaring up against PSG's Neymar this season, but Crystal Palace winger Zaha remains the defender's toughest opponent thus far...

"On the day, I'd say Zaha was the hardest," Alexander-Arnold told The Times.

"Just his athleticism. You can't get the ball off him, hard to tackle, fast, skilful, can score goals, set them up, a match-winner.

"With Neymar and Ronaldo, you can see they are very intelligent players, people who know their trade, different movements, but they never got much of the ball against us.

"Obviously Zaha is not at a level of Ronaldo and Neymar, but for me on the day Zaha was probably the hardest," he concluded.