European Team of the Season: Centre-back - Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

From a personal perspective, it was a fine league season for Virgil van Dijk. The Dutchman was named PFA Player of the Year after a stunning campaign with Liverpool, who missed out on the Premier League title by a solitary point. Attention now turns to Saturday’s Champions League final as Van Dijk aims to secure European glory. 

It wouldn’t be undeserving either for the centre-back, who scored four times and provided two assists, ranking fifth and seventh, respectively, of all players in his position. Liverpool earned a clean sheet in 20 of his 38 league outings, that more than any other centre-back in Europe’s top five leagues, while the Reds conceded fewer goals (22) than any other team in England’s top tier. 

The defender wasn’t dribbled past in the Premier League either, while in the air; the towering Netherlands international dominated with a 74.2% aerial success rate one of the best in Europe’s top five leagues. All in all, Van Dijk did enough to return a WhoScored rating of 7.44 to earn his spot in this XI as the best-rated centre-back on the continent.