Liverpool nominated for Team of the Year again at Laureus World Sports Awards

Liverpool have once again been nominated for the Team of the Year gong at this year's prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards after they finally won the first ever Premier League title last season.

Jurgen Klopp's men, who narrowly missed out on the award last summer to South Africa's rugby team, dominated English football in emphatic fashion to seal their first title in England's top flight in 30 years.

The Reds will be strong contenders for the award this time round but face strong competition at Laureus' 22nd annual awards, which will take place virtually in May.

Also up for the Team of the Year award are treble winners and Champions League holders Bayern Munich while Formula One's Mercedes are in the running after securing the constructors' titles for a record seventh straight season.

NBA team the Los Angeles Lakers have also been nominated following their championship heroics in Orlando while the Argentina men's rugby team were given the nod after they secured their first-ever win over the All Blacks.

Along with Mercedes' and Bayern's nominated in the Team of the Year category, Lewis Hamilton and Robert Lewandowski have also been put forward for this year's Sportsman of the Year award.

They will face competition from the likes of LA Lakers superstar LeBron James and Rafael Nadal, who won his 13th French Open which saw him equal Roger Federer's total of 20 career Grand Slams.

Hamilton, who was crowned as F1 world champion for a seventh time and scooped the best sportsman award last year, said: 'It's an honour to have been nominated for Sportsman of the Year alongside some truly incredible athletes. When I look back at the award ceremony last year, it's hard to believe just how much has changed.

'2020 was a difficult year for so many people, for many different reasons and of course the world of sport was hugely affected. I was fortunate enough to be able to race and I'm so proud of what we, as a team, were able to achieve together.

'I'm even prouder of the journey we began towards making the motorsport industry more diverse and inclusive.

'Nelson Mandela was the inspiration behind Laureus and I'm sure he would support everything we can do, to use sport to achieve a greater good.'

The woman's category is led by tennis star Naomi Osaka, who won her second US Open in 2020 – her third career Grand Slam at the age of 22.

United States basketball player Breanna Stewart also joins Osaka on the list of nominations along with skiier Federica Brignone who became the first Italian woman to win Overall World Cup.