Revealed: Nominees for the Premier League PFA Player Of The Year

The final list of the six nominees has been released ahead of the season’s end.

Another Premier League is coming towards a close and there have been some outstanding individual performances by players who have made the final cut for the Player’s Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Year honor. The final list of nominees is dominated by the players from Manchester City and Liverpool for obvious reasons. The two teams in question have been a class apart from the rest of the competition thanks to the world class, consistent and incredible performances from their players.

Last year’s winner Mohamed Salah has failed to make the cut this time around, and only Chelsea’s Eden Hazard is amongst the players who has previously won the PFA POTY award. Therefore, here is our take on the final list of nominees that are in the running for the PFA Player of the Year award for the 2018/19 season.

Virgil Van Dijk - Liverpool FC

Back in January last year, Liverpool broke their transfer record to sign the Dutch center-back from Southampton for a fee in the region of £75 million. Since, then Virgil Van Dijk has solidified the defense single-handedly and is outrightly the most consistent performing defender in the Premier League. He is not only a rock at the back but also a major threat from set pieces.

The Dutch defender has been a pillar for Liverpool

The stopper has scored 5 goals in all competitions for The Reds with two crucial goals coming in the UEFA Champions League against Bayern Munich and FC Porto. The 27-year-old has been central to Liverpool’s defensive record where they have only conceded 20 goals overall and have kept 19 clean sheets in the domestic league itself. His distribution from the back has also been a constant threat with an impressive 89% passing accuracy.

Bernardo Silva - Manchester City FC

The Portuguese has been one of the breakthrough performers and has emerged as one of the most creative and technically gifted players in England. Up until last season, he was rotated around the squad, but owing to long injury spells to Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva was given more opportunities by Pep Guardiola as a starter. He has performed way above expectations this term and has made the starting position his own in the lineup. The 24-year-old has been an integral part to Manchester City’s march towards a domestic treble.

The attacking-midfielder recently scored the opening goal in the Manchester derby, and has scored 13 goals for his team in all competitions, also notching up eight assists in the process. Interestingly, Silva is also amongst the final list of nominees for the PFA Young Player of the Year award. His off-the-field demeanour is also commended by fans, who have claimed the star to be extremely modest and down-to-earth

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Sadio Mane - Liverpool FC

The second player from the Merseyside amongst the list of the final nominees for the award is the Senegalese, Sadio Mane. He has quietly taken the mantle from Mohamed Salah and has become Liverpool’s main threat going forward. Thanks to his tireless and industrious display on a regular basis, defenders dread facing off against the winger, who is unplayable at times. Pacy and opportunistic, Sadio Mane is relentless going forward and finds himself in the right positions at the right time to score.

His consistent performances have also made a strong case for him to be adjudged as the African Player of the Year for 2018/19 season. His 18 goals in the Premier League and four goals in the Champions League have firmly placed Liverpool in a good position to win both competitions. He has been also strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid in the summer - which is certainly bad news for Liverpool faithfuls.

Eden Hazard - Chelsea FC

The only player among the final nominees that isn’t a MCFC or a LFC player is Eden Hazard. For a few seasons now, he has been the best performer at Chelsea, who are otherwise having a majorly disappointing campaign and have looked a sub-par side on many occasions. The Belgian is the sole blossoming flower in a mud that is the Chelsea squad. He was the PFA Player of the Year back in 2015 and has the chance to win it for the second time.

Eden has been the go-to man to score goals for Chelsea this season

The 28-year-old has the most goal contributions in English top-flight with 16 goals and 13 assists. Still in contention to win the UEFA Europa League to salvage an increasingly disappointing season, Hazard is sure to play a central role if Chelsea is to qualify for UCL football for next season. Heavily linked to Real Madrid yet again, this could be the final season where fans of the Blues get to call Hazard their own.

Raheem Sterling - Manchester City FC

Since joining from Liverpool, Raheem Sterling has finally showed his true potential thi season and has grown into a fine, mature and a world class attacker. His growth has been closely monitored by the gaffer, Pep Guardiola and he needs to be given due credit for helping Sterling realising his potential today.

The Englishman is a constant and an ever-present threat down the left-wing and a nightmare for the full-backs of the opposition to deal with. His 24 goals and 13 assists in all competitions for Manchester City is just a testament to his overall contribution in the attacking department. Moreover, his off-the-field stand against racist abuse in football has also been commended by football fans all around the globe.

Sergio Aguero - Manchester City FC

The third City player to feature amongst the final nominees for the PFA POTY award is the Argentine, Sergio Aguero. One would find lacking in expletives to describe Aguero and his contribution to MCFC’s march towards greatness. Season after season, the forward has been consistently ripping apart defenses, scoring goals for fun in the process.

Sergio Aguero scored three of the six goals when Manchester City beat Chelsea 6-0

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Back-to-back hattricks against Arsenal and Chelsea just prove his unchallenged class and on his day, he is the best player in the world by a stretch. He leads the current scoring charts in the Premier League with 19 goals and has scored 28 goals in all competitions also providing nine assists for his teammates.

That concludes the list of the final nominees in line to win the PFA Player of the Year award, and as the bookies have suggested, Raheem Sterling and Virgil Van Dijk are the front-runners. However, there have been a few leaks doing the rounds that reported Virgil Van Dijk as the winner of the award, but the credibility of the leak cannot be relied upon.