Forget Sterling, Alli, Sane And Silva This Manchester United Star Can Lift The Young Player Of The Year Crown

While the race for the Premier League was thrown wide open last night with Manchester City beating Liverpool, there are some fascinating sideshows to come to a crescendo in the second half of the top-flight season and the PFA Young Player of the Year is certainly an accolade that will see a plethora of bright young stars battle it out for glory.

Raheem Sterling was mesmerising for City in the first half of the season and the England international still remains a clear favourite for the gong.  But, he will have some significant challengers from his own club as last year's winner Leroy Sane is beginning to sparkle for Pep Guardiola's side, with his delightful match-winner last night launching him into the limelight.

Another sensation shining bright at the Etihad Stadium is Bernardo Silva, who produced a stunning performance last night to help City down Liverpool, and his sensational running statistics (ran 13.5km) propelled him into focus, but it's also his qualities and skill on the ball that have turned into one of Guardiola's key attacking talents.

While that City triumvirate sit in the upper echelons of the betting market, Tottenham Hotspur and England star Dele Alli is bidding to become the first ever play to win the PFA Young Player of the Year crown three times. Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney are just two of the stars alongside Alli to lift the trophy twice, but if Alli can help Spurs push into title contention then he has to be a lively contender.

However, over the last couple of weeks there has been a significant candidate emerge from the mist, and the man is question is Manchester United's Marcus Rashford, who is now as short as 10/1 with some bookmakers to land the accolade.

Rashford was relatively ineffective under Jose Mourinho, but since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's arrival at Old Trafford the 21-year-old has blossomed into one of the elite strikers in the Premier League, and is now United's first-choice centre forward.

Four goals and three assists in his last six United matches, Rashford has netted in his last two appearances and showed against Newcastle United the other day that he is finally producing his best performance in a United shirt.  United's upturn in fortunes since Mourinho's departure (won four in a row) has seen some of the Red Devils stars come to the fore, and while Paul Pogba has taken most of the plaudits, it's Rashford that has also become a major component of the United squad, and if he can continue his sparkling form then has to be regarded as a major contender for the Young Player of the Year crown.