Eden Hazard not a shoo-in for Player of the Year, says Arsenal boss

Arsene was hardly going to lavish praise on an opponent without bigging up one of his own.

Eden Hazard appears odds on to win PFA Player of the Year, this Sunday, but the Arsenal manager is not prepared to shower him with all the garlands just yet. Wenger, speaking ahead of his side's Premier League clash with Chelsea this weekend, believes Alexis Sanchez may push Chelsea's Belgian attacker all the way for the honour. He declared, 'It's his first season so he will compete very closely with Hazard for player of the year.' On Hazard, Wenger commented, 'Everybody would agree that he's had a great season. He's found maturity that he didn't have before.' A nice, back-handed compliment there.

Eden Hazard v Alexis Sanchez

HAZARD: 33 games, 13 goals, 9 assists SANCHEZ: 28 games, 14 goals, 8 assists

Wenger has taken on Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho on 12 different occasions, losing seven and drawing five. He says, 'There was a turning point last week with Manchester United not beating Chelsea. Now we can get closer to Chelsea on Sunday. .We had a disturbed start to the season but since January we have done very well. We could do with 10 more games.' Sure you could Arsene. Sure you could.