FIFA Best Player Awards Power Rankings: December 2020
The FIFA Best Player Awards ceremony will be held on December 17th. With the Ballon d'Or being cancelled, all eyes are on FIFA's showpiece event and fans will be waiting with bated breath to see who will be crowned The Best FIFA Men's Player of the Year in 2020.
FIFA released a 11 man nominee list in November and a 3 man shortlist will be announced on December 11th. The nominees include the usual suspects like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Robert Lewandowski along with some other surprising names.
Without much ado, let us take a look at the FIFA Men's Best Player Award Power Rankings for the month of December.
#11 Thiago Alcantara
Thiago played a starring role in Bayern Munich's Champions League triumph, but injuries have restricted his appearances for Liverpool in the second half of this year.
Calm, composed and always seeming to find the right pass, Thiago played the role of a deep laying playmaker to perfection for Bayern Munich. An integral part of their historic treble winning campaign, Thiago's incisive passing and ability to keep things ticking over helped Hansi Flick's side dominate the midfield battle.
After making a much anticipated move to Liverpool, Thiago has been out of action with a knee injury sustained during the Merseyside derby. Although Thiago Alcantara had a spectacular season for Bayern Munich, he is only at #11 in our power rankings.
#10 Virgil van Dijk
Another Liverpool player who suffered an unfortunate injury, Virgil van Dijk was the leader of the Liverpool defence which conquered the Premier League in 2019/20. A signing which completely transformed the Liverpool backline, Van Dijk was ever present during Liverpool's historic 2019/20 season playing every minute of their Premier League campaign.
The Dutch centre-back was pretty consistent in his performances and always provided confidence and calmness to the Liverpool backline. A true leader on the pitch, Van Dijk suffered a potential season ending injury when he clashed with Jordan Pickford in the Merseyside derby.
Van Dijk could have been higher on the list if he had not been injured and played more in recent weeks.
#9 Sadio Mane
An integral part of Liverpool's amazing attacking trio, Sadio Mane has not been at his very best in the last few weeks. The Senegalese forward was arguably Liverpool's most important player last season scoring some crucial goals and causing opposition defenders plenty of problems.
This season, however, Mane has failed to replicate the same electric form and has only scored 5 goals in 16 appearances so far.
The pacy forward still remains a threat to defenders though and Jurgen Klopp will be hoping that his star man gets back to his best soon.