Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk and Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling lead the nominations for the PFA Player of the Year award.

The six-man shortlist was confirmed on Saturday:

Van Dijk is joined by his Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane, while Sterling has fellow Manchester City stars Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero alongside him on the list. Chelsea forward Eden Hazard has also been nominated after his excellent campaign.

The PFA also confirmed the candidates to win the Young Player of the Year prize, with Sterling and Silva in the running for that title too: 

Rob Harris of the Press Association shared the shortlists in the women's category:

For long spells of the season, it's been anticipated that Van Dijk or Sterling would end up with the accolade, as they've both excelled for their respective sides. The odds suggest it will be one of those two who comes out on top, per Oddschecker:

Virgil van Dijk (1/4)

Raheem Sterling (11/4)

Sergio Aguero (16/1)

Sadio Mane (25/1)

Eden Hazard (50/1)

Bernardo Silva (50/1)

Van Dijk is a worthy favourite for the award, as he has been the standout defender in European football for long spells of the campaign.

Liverpool paid a world-record fee of £75 million for a defender to bring in the Dutchman in January 2018, and he has lived up to expectations to great effect. Van Dijk has been colossal at the back, with his defensive instincts and physicality making him so tough to get the better of.

The Reds congratulated both of their players on their nominations, with Van Dijk the only defender to be included on the shortlist: 

City and Liverpool have been involved in a tremendous title race throughout the 2018-19 term, so it's not a shock to see a clutch of players from the Etihad Stadium in the running, either.

Still, if anyone is going to beat Van Dijk to the award, it will be Sterling, as he has pushed on his game again in 2018-19. On either flank, he's been so effective, driving at opposition defenders and regularly getting into positions to score goals.

Duncan Alexander of Opta summed up how clinical he has been: 

Jonathan Northcroft of the Sunday Times said it's tough to pick a winner: 

Silva and Aguero have both been critical to City's attacking play too, with the former establishing himself as one of the key men in Pep Guardiola's setup in his second season at the club.

Hazard is the main outsider, albeit he has been exemplary for an inconsistent Chelsea team, with 16 goals and 12 assists in the Premier League.