Cole Palmer names Liverpool star as his toughest opponent across his career

Chelsea star Cole Palmer has name-dropped one of Liverpool’s best players as his toughest opponent.

The 22-year-old enjoyed one of the best breakout campaigns we’ve seen in England as he went from promising academy graduate at Manchester City to nearly being awarded the Premier League’s Best Player award - although he still managed to pick up the Young Player award.

Having produced for Chelsea with regularity, he has forged a strong reputation and is considered to be among the very best players in the Premier League, despite his lack of experience in terms of total games up to this point. He faced Liverpool at Anfield earlier this month but failed to truly impose himself on the game as his side were edged 2-1.

He also faced them in the EFL Cup final last season at Wembley as the two sides battled hard, deep into extra-time. Far more influential during that cup tie, he played the full 120 minutes and created two big chances, had three key passes, four shots on target and missed one big chance. That was a shot from close-range which looked destined to give Chelsea the lead, but Caoimhin Kelleher’s fine save kept the game level.

It was late on that Virgil van Dijk broke Chelsea - and Palmer’s - heart in the 118th minute and it is clear that has left a mark on him. When asked to name his toughest opponent during a quickfire Q&A session with Chelsea, Palmer simply quipped ‘Van Dijk’ without hesitation, as seen in the video posted on social media.

Over the years, Van Dijk has cropped up as the toughest opponent for several big name players including Erling Haaland who has faced him with Man City and RB Salzburg. Haaland said: “The most difficult, we struggled at Anfield I remember. “Van Dijk, I always said it, I think he’s so good. But the good thing also about it is I’m meeting Ruben Dias, (Manuel) Akanji, (Nathan) Ake in training every single day. Training is not easy.” He added: “But Van Dijk, I like him a lot. He’s smart, fast, and in the air, he’s just unreal as well.”