Mohamed Salah scares me - but Liverpool star is not the best in the Premier League
Everton defender Vitalii Mykolenko has named Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah as the toughest winger he has faced during his professional career - but says the Anfield star is not the best player in the Premier League right now.
Mykolenko has gone head-to-head with the Egyptian a total of four times to date, losing 2-0 on three occasions and drawing the other 0-0. During the goalless draw between Everton and the Reds in September 2022, the Ukraine international successfully shut out Salah as Jurgen Klopp's side were kept at bay.
Despite keeping that clean sheet, the Everton left-back has picked Salah as his most testing opponent to date while also naming Bukayo Saka and Bernardo Silva as two other extremely dangerous individuals he has come up against. Explaining why Liverpool's talisman is the most challenging, Mykolenko told Sky Sports: "He is going with the ball really fast and he’s going straight at you. It is scary for me and other defenders."
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However, when asked who the best player in the Premier League is right now, Mykolenko opted for one of Salah's Golden Boot rivals: Erling Haaland. The Everton full justified his decision by saying of Haaland: "Finishing, great finishing. Last game we played he scored twice (City beat Everton 2-0 on February 10). He had two moments and he scored twice, so..."
And speaking on how it feels to play against the likes of Salah and Haaland, Mykolenko said that he relishes testing himself against the best, adding: "You can improve yourself and you can show you can play on this level, this top level."
Despite missing six games this season with a hamstring injury,
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