Salah not given fair chance at Chelsea, says Hazard

Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard says Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah did not get the chance to establish himself during his stint at the London club and has described the Liverpool front man as a top, top player. Salah joined Chelsea in 2014 but was limited to 19 appearances for the club before being sent on loan to Fiorentina early the following year. He then spent a season-long loan at AS Roma before joining the Italian club permanently in 2016.

Eden Hazard says that Mohammed Salah didn’t get an opportunity at Chelsea and intends to swap shirts at the end of Liverpool’s crunch clash with Antonio Conte’s side. pic.twitter.com/NsOpTSBV3h

— Anfield Edition (@AnfieldEdition) November 23, 2017

The 25-year-old returned to the Premier League by joining Liverpool in July and is the competition's top scorer with nine goals in 12 games. "He's a top, top, top player. He did not get his chance at Chelsea – maybe because of the manager, because of the other players? I don't know," Hazard told reporters. "He has quality but in that period I remember we had me, Willian, Oscar, so for him it was not easy.

Hazard on Salah: “At Liverpool he is still doing well, so I think we need to be careful with him. I want to ask him for his shirt, for sure, on Saturday.”

— Anfield HQ (@AnfieldHQ) November 23, 2017

"He is a fantastic striker and this season he has scored a lot of goals. It is always good to play against a friend but Liverpool is not only about Salah. They have a lot of quality players." Champions Chelsea will travel to Anfield on Saturday, with Antonio Conte's men three points ahead of their rivals.

Salah, De Bruyne and Hazard in the same team? ?? Jose Mourinho might need to look away here! ?? #CFC #MUFC pic.twitter.com/2ll4yic2Yu

— Goal (@goal) November 19, 2017

Chelsea have little time to prepare for the trip after beating Qarabag 4-0 in Azerbaijan in the Champions League on Wednesday but Hazard said they would be ready. "A lot of players didn't play on Wednesday and I played only 60 minutes and N'Golo (Kante) also came off, so we can be fresh on Saturday, even if the game is close," the 26-year-old added.

Eden Hazard has no idea why his friend Mohamed Salah couldn't make it at the Bridge. https://t.co/fCO31X5COb pic.twitter.com/OIFV3cTktP

— Goal UK (@GoalUK) November 24, 2017