{"id":293562,"date":"2023-11-09T12:24:45","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T12:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=293562"},"modified":"2023-11-09T12:24:45","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T12:24:45","slug":"phil-foden-names-premier-league-rival-as-toughest-player-hes-faced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/soccer\/phil-foden-names-premier-league-rival-as-toughest-player-hes-faced\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Foden names Premier League rival as toughest player he&apos;s faced"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Phil Foden names a Premier League rival as the toughest player he has faced during his decorated spell at Manchester City&#8230; and he&#8217;s been playing against him since they were 8!<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The players have squared off against one another in the league and in Europe\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Pair are due to come up against one another once again on Sunday afternoon\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Chris Sutton: &#8216;How my son nearly died&#8217; &#8211; Listen to It&#8217;s All Kicking Off podcast\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Phil Foden has named a Premier League rival as the toughest player he has ever played against.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Manchester City starlet has faced a number of the best oppositions in world football during his decorated career for both club and country.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On domestic duty, Man City&#8217;s success in Europe has seen him go up against the finest defenders from top clubs including Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, and Inter Milan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the academy graduate has found the greatest resistance from rivals closer to home &#8211; and Foden is due to face off with the player once again in their teams&#8217; next Premier League match-up on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chelsea captain Reece James was the player to get the nod from Foden in a recent interview ahead of the tie, with the Treble winner dubbing the right back &#8216;the toughest player I have played against&#8217;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/09\/11\/77602411-0-image-a-68_1699530808923.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Phil Foden has named a Premier League rival as the toughtest opponent he has faced with City<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/09\/11\/77602421-0-image-a-69_1699530811998.jpg\" height=\"417\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Reece James at his best is a fearsome adversaries for attackers but the Chelsea captain has struggled for full fitness over the past 18 months<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/09\/11\/77602415-0-image-a-70_1699530815520.jpg\" height=\"471\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Chelsea academy graduate kept his opposite number under wraps during the 2021 Champions League final in Porto<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>James and Foden have lined up against one another since their respective times in the Chelsea and City youth set-ups from the age of eight, and most recently met in the Cityzen&#8217;s 1-0 victory against the Blues in September 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When a photograph of the pair playing against one another went viral that same year, James could still remember that tie in detail.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was in a Premier League tournament when I was about 13 or 14 years old,&#8217;\u00a0he said of the clash in the photograph. &#8216;Every year, we\u2019d always come up against City in the final.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I was still playing in midfield at the time so I was right up against him in the centre of the pitch. He was the same then as he is now &#8211; really hard to play against. He plays exactly the same but he\u2019s just matured and got even better as a player. That\u2019s why he\u2019s come through at City, one of the best clubs.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Earlier that year, Chelsea swiped Champions League glory from Pep Guardiola&#8217;s side by the same scoreline in Porto, with James amongst those playing a starring role.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The defender&#8217;s performances in Europe during the 2020-21 season garnered another top-flight admirer, with Real Madrid naming James one of his most challenging opponents after the west London side overcame Los Blancos in their semi-final that season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Brazil international also singled out Foden&#8217;s team-mate Kyle Walker for the honour.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/09\/11\/77602417-0-image-a-71_1699530819989.jpg\" height=\"429\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The pair are capable of suspending hostilities, however, and frequently feature for England<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/09\/11\/77602481-0-image-a-72_1699530825324.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Vinicius Jnr is another top-flight forward that has high praise for the 23-year-old right back\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/09\/11\/77602425-0-image-a-73_1699530827888.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>James is having his minutes managed as he returns from injury but started against Tottenham<\/p>\n<p>But since their last September 2021, James has had little time to build up a strong run of form in blue, with the last 18 months seeing the defender stymied by injury for large swathes of the last three seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Blues captain has missed chunks of Chelsea&#8217;s current campaign under Mauricio Pochettino after picking up a hamstring injury during their opening match against Liverpool.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>James was handed his first Premier League start of the season during the club&#8217;s chaotic 4-1 win against Tottenham, with Pochettino keen to manage the player&#8217;s minutes as he returns to full fitness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He is however expected to start in a similar fashion against Man City over the weekend, as Chelsea look to continue their not-unimpressive record against top-four opponents at Stamford Bridge.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12729749\/Phil-Foden-names-Premier-League-rival-toughest-player-faced-decorated-spell-Manchester-City-hes-playing-against-13.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Phil Foden names a Premier League rival as the toughest player he has faced during his decorated spell at Manchester<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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