Bournemouth midfielder Harry Arter picked out Eden Hazard, not N'Golo Kante, as his toughest opponent of the season as Chelsea ran out 3-1 winners at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
Kante got his first Chelsea assist in the Premier League in his 30th appearance for the Blues, but Hazard finished off the move by brilliantly rounding Artur Boruc.
Hazard & Kante's two-man battle for Player of the Year
Arter was directly involved in a midfield battle with the France international but he thinks that although Kante deserves his praise, it was Hazard that impressed him the most.
“Kante is an unbelievable player," he said after the match. "He has got as lot of praise this season but defensively he’s unbelievable - he probably doesn’t get enough credit for how good he is on the ball as well.
"He’s very good but it’s hard to pick one player out in their side. They have got Hazard who I feel is the best I’ve played against this season. He was very difficult to play against."
Bournemouth gave a good account of themselves against Chelsea and were chasing a draw after Joshua King's strike pulled one back after Adam Smith's own goal and Hazard's strike.
Lampard: Hazard has made changes
Marcos Alonso's free-kick in the second half ended the Cherries' hopes in front of their own fans and Arter admits that the Blues have very few weaknesses.
“A lot of sides you can always pick out one player that a team will try and use and you can come up with a game plan to stop them, but Chelsea have got so many individuals there it comes to a point where it’s almost impossible to play against them.
“If everyone is not completely at it then you are not going to beat a side like that and unfortunately we weren’t. And it was disappointing to lose the game in the fashion we did.”
“It was a very tough game. Mentally and physically it was very demanding and it’s easy to see why they are top of the league. Maybe they felt when it went to 2-1 they had to put more pressure on us.
"Their shape has got them a lot of success this season and it’s tough to play against. They are obviously very consistent with it and for a lot of teams it’s hard to come up with a game plan to counter it."
