Ederson shows he has had same impact for Man City as Van Dijk at Liverpool

It says a lot about Manchester City's defence of their title that they have managed to stay level with such a talented Liverpool side.

In a season plagued by injuries to key players and a fixture list that has demanded levels of fitness to challenge even the best athletes, City somehow still have the title in their own hands with four games to go.

The challenge from Liverpool has been extraordinary, as the Reds have made up 25 points on City from last season and recorded their best ever Premier League points return. In most other seasons, Liverpool would have already won the title.

Central to Liverpool's transformation is the addition of Virgil Van Dijk, who has strengthened their defence in a way even the most optimistic Reds supporter couldn't have dreamed.

Much has been written about Van Dijk's influence, and the defender is favourite to sweep up at the end of season awards.

But in goalkeeper Ederson, City have their own player who has quietly gone about transforming a problem position, and he set an impressive record to prove his influence in the weekend win over Tottenham.

Eyebrows were raised when Ederson joined for £36m in 2017 - a world record fee for a goalkeeper at the time - but he has changed the way the position is viewed by managers, and is one of the most important cogs in Pep Guardiola's system.

The 1-0 win over Spurs marked his 33rd clean sheet in the Premier League since joining two years ago, and no other goalkeeper has recorded more in that period.

In comparison, Van Dijk has helped Liverpool to 27 clean sheets in his 18 months at Anfield, as well as two for Southampton at the start of 2017/18.

The two obviously play different roles for their teams, so a direct comparison of clean sheets is not entirely fair. But while Van Dijk continues to be hailed as a signing that has transformed Liverpool, the same praise has to be levelled at Ederson.

And the City man has the trophies to show for it.