Virgil van Dijk has been named the Premier League's 2018-19 PFA Player of the Year. 

The Dutchman has been a key part of Liverpool's title challenge this season and beat tough competition to the prize. 

Manchester City trio Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero were all shortlisted, alongside Eden Hazard and Sadio Mane. 

But it's Van Dijk who scooped the award and he became the first defender to do so since John Terry in 2005. 

He's also only the fourth Dutchman to be named PFA Player of the Year, behind Dennis Bergkamp, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Robin van Persie. 

Winning the award is a huge achievement and comes after months of hard work. So, let's take a look at the impressive stats from Van Dijk's season that prove he deserves the win.

The star centre-back has featured in all of Liverpool's 36 Premier League games so far and no outfield player has registered more than his 19 clean sheets during this campaign. 

What's even more impressive, is that no player has dribbled past the Dutchman in any of those 36 matches. 

In fact, the last player to do so was Newcastle's Mikel Merino - back in March 2018. 

Van Dijk has been pretty much unbeatable in 1v1 scenarios too. He's taken part in 296 duels this season and won 228 of them - posting a 77% success rate. 

Leicester's Harry Maguire is his closest rival to that crown, having won 173 of his 240 duels, with a success rate of 72.1%. 

In the air, as you'd probably expect from a defender that's 6'3", Van Dijk is utterly dominant. He's taken part in 223 aerial duels, winning 170 of them - making him successful 76.2% of the time.  

Shane Duffy is his closest challenger in this category, battling in 251 duels but winning only 173 of them - giving him a success rate of 72.1%. 

What's perhaps more important to Van Dijk's Player of the Year award win is the effect he has on Liverpool's results.

He's now played 50 league games for the Reds and during that time they have won 35, drawn 11 and lost just four. That's a win ratio of 70%. 

Compared to the 50 games they played before he arrived, Liverpool won 28, drew 15 and lost seven, with a win ratio of 56%.

The team have also conceded 26 goals less (30, rather than 56) and on average go 150 minutes without conceding, compared to an average of 80 minutes, before he arrived. 

That's allowed Liverpool to pick up 116 points in the 50 games he's played, an average of 2.32 per game, which is again higher than the 99 points they won before the 27-year-old joined. 

It's clear to see the positive effect Van Dijk has had on Liverpool and his stats prove that the PFA Player of the Year award has certainly gone to the right man.