Liverpool duo, Kevin De Bruyne up for Premier League Player of the Month

After being substituted on the opening day of the season with a hamstring injury, De Bruyne marked his long-awaited return with a goal and assist to propel Man City to a dramatic 3-2 win over Newcastle United on January 13.

With the champions 2-1 down heading into the final 20 minutes, De Bruyne expertly picked out the bottom corner just five minutes after coming off the bench, before providing a delightful cross for Oscar Bobb to score a last-minute winner.

On the back of his St James' Park heroics, De Bruyne was reinstated to the first XI for the visit of Burnley to the Etihad on January 31 and registered his second assist of the campaign, a clever free kick into the feet of Julian Alvarez.

The Belgium international is one of six shortlisted players aiming to win their first-ever Premier League Player of the Month prize, and Liverpool's feats have been recognised with two nominations.

Twenty-year-old right-back Conor Bradley is up for the prize after bursting onto the scene for the Reds last month, registering a goal and three assists in place of Trent Alexander-Arnold.

After setting up one of Liverpool's four goals in their 4-0 crushing of Bournemouth, Bradley tore Chelsea apart with a man-of-the-match display at Anfield, contributing to three of his side's four goals in that 4-1 triumph.

The Northern Ireland international opened his Liverpool account with a stunning finish across goal, while also laying on assists for Dominik Szoboszlai and fellow nominee Diogo Jota.

The Portuguese attacker's January saw him bag three goals and two assists from five appearances in a Reds jersey, firstly teeing up Curtis Jones for his side's second goal in the 4-2 beating of Newcastle United on New Year's Day.

Jota then netted a brace and provided one assist against Bournemouth, before charging through a permeable Chelsea defence to open the scoring in that Merseyside mauling of the Blues.

Other nominees include reinvigorated Tottenham Hotspur striker Richarlison, who only played two Premier League games in January but continued his red-hot form with goals against Brentford and Manchester United.

On the other side of North London, another Brazilian who scored two goals in two games is up for the prize in the shape of Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes, who came up with a brace in a 5-0 win over Crystal Palace.

Gabriel's second against the Eagles initially went down as a Dean Henderson own goal, but following an appeal, the former Lille defender has now been credited with the effort.

Finally, Luton Town marksman Elijah Adebayo is bidding to become the first Hatters player to win the Premier League POTM accolade after scoring a phenomenal hat-trick in his side's 4-0 drubbing of Brighton & Hove Albion on January 30.

Bournemouth's Dominic Solanke was the most recent winner of the Player of the Month award, while Harry Maguire, James Maddison, Son Heung-min and Mohamed Salah have also taken the prize home this season.