Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and defender Virgil van Dijk won the December awards for Premier League Manager and Player of the Month respectively.
Liverpool were undoubtedly the best team in the Premier League in December as they won all seven of their matches. The Reds ended 2018 by thrashing Arsenal 5-1 and gaining a seven-point lead at the top of the table.
Klopp won the Manager of the Month award for the second time, previously winning it for September in 2016. Klopp beat out Mauricio Pochettino, Maurizio Sarri, Manuel Pellegrini and Nuno Santo to win the award.
Upon receiving the honor, Klopp said, “It’s nice, the icing on the cake. It was a very successful but difficult month. Each game felt like the most important one of the season. It was unbelievable. The intensity was massive but that’s what made it a special month. With the group I have here, if you can mix up the potential of the group with the best attitude you can get, you get quality. That’s what we did in December.”
Liverpool conceded just three goals in the seven matches they played in December thanks to their remarkable defence marshalled by Virgil van Dijk.
Van Dijk beat out Eden Hazard, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Felipe Anderson, Son Heung-min and Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah to win the award.
Van Dijk becomes the first Liverpool player who has won this award this season. He is the first defender to win the award since Jan Vertonghen won it in March 2013 and the first Dutchman to win the award since goalkeeper Tim Krul won the award in November 2013.
Liverpool will hope to get back to winning ways on Saturday when they take on Brighton and Hove Albion.
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