Van Dijk is expected to win the PFA award and Sterling is likely to claim the FWA award

Virgil van Dijk and Raheem Sterling look set to win the main player-of-the-year awards.

Van Dijk, Liverpool’s Dutch defender, is expected to claim the PFA award, according to several sources, while Sterling, the Manchester City and England forward, is believed to be ahead in the voting for the footballer-of-the-year award organised by the Football Writers’ Association. Liverpool and City have been almost impossible to split in the Premier League title race and the same has been true in the competition for the individual awards.

A City player has never won the PFA award, which is voted for by all professional players in England, and no player from the club has won the FWA award since the 1960s despite City winning the Premier League three times