Chelsea loanee Ruben Loftus-Cheek shone for Crystal Palace again on Saturday – while Tiemoue Bakayoko did exactly the opposite against Liverpool at Anfield.
It didn’t pass Chelsea fans by that, just a few hours before Tiemoue Bakayoko’s led-footed performance against Liverpool at Anfield, Ruben Loftus-Cheek delivered another midfield masterclass to set Crystal Palace on their way to only their second league win of the season.
Since swapping his cameo role at Chelsea for a starting place at Crystal Palace, arguably the best loan signing of 2017/18 has gone from strength to strength.
Not only has Loftus-Cheek, a real Rolls Royce of a player who looks far more mature than his 21 years, proved beyond doubt that he is bonafide Premier League quality, he has also made his England debut and earned the Man of the Match award against Germany at Wembley to boot.
And a well-taken goal in Crystal Palace’s vital 2-1 home win at Stoke City on Saturday afternoon was the latest impressive contribution from arguably England’s most exciting young midfielder.
Loftus-Cheek’s display, all control and composure, was in stark contrast to Bakayoko’s on Merseyside. Chelsea paid £39.7 million to sign the French powerhouse from Ligue 1 champions Monaco, per The Guardian, but, at Anfield, he looked more Jiri Jarosik than Claude Makelele.
Not only did Bakayoko give possession away on countless occasions, it was his heavy touch which led to Mo Salah’s opener – a goal Chelsea waited until the 84th minute, via a mishit Willian cross, to cancel out.
And this has Chelsea fans asking, with some justification, why they let Loftus-Cheek go to make way for Bakayoko:
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