Six stars on shortlist for Premier League player of the Month in December

Mesut Ozil has fired Arsenal to the Premier League summit

The candidates for December's Premier League Player of the Month have been unveiled with six up for the prize.

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil continues to cause havoc for opponents in the top flight.

The German racked up five assists and a goal as the Gunners impressed in the run-up to Christmas with four victories.

His two assists in the 2-1 win over title rivals Manchester City particularly stands out.

Stoke City are surprising nobody with their fine form and Marko Arnautovic has been the stand-out performer.

The Austrian forward banged in a fine haul of four goals, and provided an assist, during December as the team climbed up the table.

Marko Arnautovic haunts Manchester United with a devastating display

A thunderous drive helped see off Manchester United with a 2-0 win and his stoppage-time penalty steered Stoke to a thrilling 4-3 victory at Everton.

Leicester have not let up with their brand of attacking football and winger Riyad Mahrez has been at the heart of everything good in the Foxes team.

Riyad Mahrez has been on top form this season for Leicester

It's no surprise the Algerian international is at the centre of a lot of transfer speculation in the January transfer window after his efforts at the end of last year.

The 24-year-old scored six goals and assisted one to help Leicester cement their place in the top four of the Premier League.

Forward Odion Ighalo has been on fire for Watford who picked up three wins in December and the Nigerian has been ripping into the defences.

Odion Ighalo a top performer for Watford

Ighalo scored in a narrow defeat by Tottenham and in the battling 2-2 draw with Chelsea on Boxing Day. He notched five in total.

Many teams around the world would want Romelu Lukaku in their starting line-up with the Belgian continuing his hot steak in front of goal.

Everton star on the rise Romelu Lukaku

Everton may have suffered two defeats and two draws in a rare disappointing month, but there was still no holding back for Lukaku who fired in five goals.

It's been an amazing few weeks for Tottenham's Dele Alli and deserves his place on the shortlist for December's top player.

The 19-year-old midfielder has made a huge impact at Spurs since arriving from MK Dons.

He scored two goals and provided two assists in a spectacular month for the England midfielder and was even rewarded with a new contract at White Hart Lane for his recent efforts.