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As we come closer to the business end of yet another exciting Premier League season, we take a look at the players who have impressed us and have earned the rights to be in the shortlist of this year's Player of the Season award. Unlike last season this year's awards promise to be a close one and will surely go right down the wire with many players having a shot. Here we take a look at the 4 players who deserve to be on the list this season.
#4 Mohamed Salah
The Egyptian was the clearcut winner in last year's awards due to his record-breaking season at Liverpool in which he scored 32 goals. This year though, he faces quite a tough competition as many players have upped their game and hence Salah could only find the 4th spot in our list. Salah was clearly the main man at Liverpool last season, but the arrival of new signings at the club and their impressive performances on the field have somewhat overshadowed Salah's contribution. The Egyptian is still the main man for Liverpool with him scoring some important goals that have helped Liverpool remain in the title race this season. Though Salah is not performing on the same levels as of last season, he is still having a wonderful season and surely deserves to be on our top four list.
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#3 Sergio Aguero
Goals, goals and more goals! Sergio Aguero has goals written all over his name and the Argentine is currently on the form of his life. He is the joint top scorer of the league at the moment along with Salah and is almost averaging a goal per match, a feat most established strikers would be envious of. Not only this, but Aguero has also helped City to push for the title by scoring in some important matches this season and has also contributed in the Champions League and the domestic cups. His goals against United, Liverpool and Chelsea were simply breathtaking and if Aguero continues to perform at the same levels as of now till the end of the season then who knows, that he might even be the frontrunner in the PFA Player of the Season Award.
#2 Fernandinho
Perhaps the most important and the first player on Guardiola's City team which in itself is a big compliment, this Brazilian is perhaps one of the best if not the best CDM in the world. He quietly goes about doing the dirty work in an otherwise crafty City team and perhaps gets unnoticed for his work most of the time. But City without Fernandinho look like a completely different team and his absence is badly felt by them. Two out of the four games that City have lost this season have been when Fernandinho was not on the team which explains it all as to why City require Fernandinho so much. The 33-year-old has been the key factor in City's quest of retaining the title so far and it would not be surprising to see him getting the Player of the Season award given that Kante won the award two seasons ago for a similar kind of performance that season.
#1 Virgil Van Dijk
Very surprising to see a defender on the top of the list for individual awards in football, but such has been the Dutch man's performances this season that it is hard to argue that he doesn't deserve the award this season. Van Dijk has transformed a defensively sloppy Liverpool team to the best defensive team in the league in a matter of just a year and that in itself speaks about his contribution. Due to his performances throughout the season so far, Liverpool are currently sitting on top of the league and have a genuine chance of winning the league for the first time in over 30 years. Even the best strikers in the Premier League have struggled to dribble past the Dutch international this season.
Van Dijk is making his record-breaking transfer fee for a defender look like a bargain and he is arguably the best defender in the world at this moment. So come April, it would not be surprising to see him bag the prize for the best player in England this season.
