has been nominated for the title of Premier League Player of the Year. The Liverpool and Dutch captain will compete against seven other well-performing players in the election. He has already won the award once before.
Van Dijk is completely back to his old self this season. The Dutchman has only dribbled past twice in 34 games in the competition and has already won 186 personal duels. This makes the Dutch captain one of the best defenders in the Premier League and he played an important role in the eight times that Liverpool managed to keep the goal clean. Van Dijk also won the prize in 2019.
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Manchester City and Arsenal are the teams that provide the most candidates for the prize with two candidates each. On behalf of the London leader, Martin Ødegaard and Declan Rice have a chance. The Norwegian captain has already been involved in sixteen goals in 33 league matches this season. He completed eight of these himself, while he brought in a teammate for the remaining eight. His English teammate came over from West Ham United last summer and made an immediate impression as a controller with seven goals, eight assists, 79 tackles and 43 interceptions in 36 matches.
At Manchester City, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden are the contenders. The Norwegian super striker is back on track with 25 goals in 28 matches and is currently the top scorer in the Premier League. His teammate has already scored sixteen goals in 32 matches and also provided eight assists.
The other nominations are for Alexander Isak (Newcastle United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea) and Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa). Isak is doing excellently in the north of England with twenty goals and one assist in 27 matches, while Watkins was good for nineteen goals and twelve assists in 35 matches in Birmingham. Palmer is perhaps the absolute revelation of the Premier League season. The attacking midfielder came over from Manchester City last summer and, with 21 goals and nine assists in 31 games, is the bright spot in dark days at Stamford Bridge.
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