The Premier League revealed the finalists for a trio of season-ending awards on Friday, with Liverpool well-represented across the categories.
The Player of the Season, Young Player of the Season, and Manager of the Season accolades will each be decided by votes from fans and the Premier League’s 30-person voting panel. The POTY honor, the most prestigious of the lot, will also take into consideration votes from all 20 club captains.
The nominees for this season’s awards are as follows:
Player of the Season
Unsurprisingly, runaway champions Liverpool dominate the POTY category, with three Reds among the finalists; captain Jordan Henderson, winger Sadio Mane, and right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold are all up for the honor.
They’re joined by Manchester City superstar Kevin De Bruyne – widely regarded as the best player in the league – while Golden Boot winner Jamie Vardy also got the nod.
Southampton striker Danny Ings and Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope have also been recognized for their outstanding individual campaigns.
Young Player of the Season
Eight talented youngsters are in contention for this award, led by the aforementioned Alexander-Arnold, who has a real chance at taking home both of the trophies he’s nominated for.
He’ll face stiff competition in the category, though.
Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic was virtually unstoppable after the restart, and he’s joined on the shortlist by teammate Mason Mount, who made more league appearances than any player in Frank Lampard’s squad this past season.
The entirety of Manchester United’s dynamic attacking trio are also in the running; Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, and breakout star Mason Greenwood combined for 44 goals on the campaign as United secured a place in next season’s Champions League.
Rounding out the exciting group is Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish – who was instrumental in keeping the Villans out of the relegation zone – and shot-stopper Dean Henderson, who starred at Sheffield United while on loan from the aforementioned Red Devils.
Manager of the Season
Jurgen Klopp will undoubtedly be the front-runner here after guiding Liverpool to their first league title in 30 years.
The affable German is joined by Lampard, Brendan Rodgers, and Chris Wilder, with the latter rightly earning recognition for masterminding Sheffield United’s top-half finish this past season.
Though the Blades’ boss almost managed to get his newly promoted side into Europe with some inventive tactics, this gong is surely Klopp’s to lose.
