By Carl Markham, Press Association Sport
Published: 00:14 GMT, 1 March 2019 | Updated: 00:14 GMT, 1 March 2019
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Liverpool defender Andy Robertson's admission that playing alongside Virgil van Dijk makes his job easier is evidence enough of why the Dutchman is the favourite to be crowned player of the year.
The world's most expensive defender arguably leads the race for the accolade ahead of Manchester City trio Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling and David Silva and his own 20-goal team-mate Mohamed Salah.
Since the Professional Footballers' Association brought in its awards in 1974 a defender has won the main prize only five times, with John Terry the last to do so 14 years ago.
Virgil van Dijk is a leading candidate to be crowned Premier League Player of the Year
Van Dijk was assisted by Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold in the win over Watford
But van Dijk has been the key component in Liverpool's title challenge, helping the Reds keep a league-leading 16 clean sheets this season, and Robertson offered some insight into why.
'If the season ended tonight, I would give him it personally,' said the Scotland captain.
'There's still 10 games to go and somebody can step up from another team but Virgil can take
