Raheem Sterling was no doubt a worthy candidate, but you just knew Virgil van Dijk had this particular award in the bag.
Whilst Manchester City's sprint king has added an end product to his game in recent seasons, the Etihad juggernaut has just looked as devastating with his teammate Leroy Sane in the side.
But at Anfield, the acquisition of Van Dijk for a world record transfer fee for a defender in January 2018 has been nothing short of incredible. The Dutchman has transformed Liverpool's defence into undeniably being the best in the league, with the Reds conceding just 20 goals, and keeping 20 clean sheets to boot too.