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Liverpool ace Virgil van Dijk will go up against Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the Ballon d’Or award on Monday after a spectacular year for the Reds and Holland. However, the centre-back insisted that he was just happy to be in contention.
Van Dijk scored twice as the Reds extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to 11 points on Saturday.
The towering defender bagged a brace of headers in the first-half of the game, in what was another solid performance for the Dutchman.
Liverpool now have a healthy lead over Manchester City - who could drop to third place if Leicester City win or draw against Everton today.
The 28-year-old has had a brilliant year for club and country, having guided Liverpool to their sixth Champions League title and taken Holland to the Euro Nations League final.
Liverpool ace Virgil van Dijk discussed the Ballon d'Or (Image: GETTY)
And he has the chance to be rewarded for that form on Monday, having been named as one of the final three nominees for the Ballon d’Or.
Lionel Messi is widely expected to win what would be his sixth title, and Van Dijk brushed off any suggestions from Gary Lineker on Match of the Day that his two goals on Saturday will help his cause.
Instead, he simply said he was happy to just be one of the final three.
“Well, I think it doesn’t matter as you said already, we’ll see,” he said.
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