Four Liverpool Player Finalists for 2019 Northwest Football Awards

UEFA’s Champions League awards. FIFA’s The Best awards. The Ballon d’Or. This season, more than ever perhaps, Liverpool have been in the thick of it this awards season, led by Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané, and Jürgen Klopp.

There’s another set of football awards that take place in the autumn, though, one that traditionally Liverpool have been a big player in, and that’s the Northwest Football Awards—and again this year they have players up for each of the major player awards.

Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, along with Sophie Bradley-Auckland and Amy Rodgers from Liverpool FC Women, are all finalists for the best player and young player awards—with nominations capped at a maximum of one nominee player per team.

Van Dijk will be expected to be named men’s player of the year, while Alexander-Arnold won the organisation’s Rising Star award last year and will be expected to repeat. To win, Van Dijk will have to beat out Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and United’s Luke Shaw.

Meanwhile, if Alexander-Arnold is to repeat as the region’s top youngster as expected, he will have to top five other players: Wigan’s Reece James, Burnley’s Dwight McNeil, Bolton’s Harry Brockbank, Rochdale’s Luke Matheson, and United’s Mason Greenwood.

Things are likely to be tougher going on the women’s side of the awards for Bradley-Auckland, the women’s player of year nominee. She’s up against Everton’s Simone Magill, Fylde’s Laura Merrin, City’s Stephanie Houghton, and United’s Katie Zelem.

For the rising star award, Rogers is facing Burnley’s Evie Priestley, Fylde’s Georgia Stevens, and City’s Georgia Stanway.