As the month of April gets fully underway the awards for Premier League Player and Manager of the month for March are drawn up and it’s thrown up an interesting head to head, as Reds and Blues go head to head, with both Everton boss Roberto Martinez and Reds manager Brendan Rodgers up for the award.
Also under consideration are Stoke coach, Mark Hughes, and Manuel Pellegrino of Manchester City. However, it looks likely that Rodgers and Martinez will battle one another for the award after both saw their respective sides knock out five successive victories in March, whilst Man City and Stoke won all but one of their games.
Up for the player’s award are also Reds and Blues with Suarez, Gerrard and Lukaku going toe to toe after all enjoying impressive months. Gerrard managed 4 goals, while Lukaku scored 3 times. However, with Suarez knocking in six during March he may well face stiffer competition from Southampton striker Jay Rodriguez who scored five and picked up a season ending injury on Saturday.
Regardless of who wins these awards it will not be lost on anybody – whether of the Red or Blue persuasion – that having both club’s managers and players from both clubs up for awards at this stage of the season, as well as both challenging for Champions League places, and in Liverpool’s case the title, represents a massive shift in fortunes from last season when both club’s had little to play for at this stage.
