Players including Van Dijk to play every minute for a Premier League title winning side

Bengaluru, Aug 6: Winning the Premier League itself is a huge achievement. However, leading the team from the front - playing every minute of the domestic season is another huge accomplishment one individual can boast off.

Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk achieved the same milestone in the recently concluded campaign. After completing Liverpool's final match of the season against Newcastle United, the Dutch international defender ensured he played every minute of the title-winning campaign.

Van Dijk, however, is not the first Premier League player to achieve the feat. Since the inception of the Premier League, four more players also previously achieved this same feat.

Here we take to look at those four names:

1992/93 - Gary Pallister (Manchester United)

The English defender was the first player to claim such a record. The centre-half played every minute of his debut Premier League campaign as Manchester United clinched their first league title in 26 years. Pallister helped the side to maintain a best defensive record in the division and was consequently named in the PFA Team of the Year.

2014/15 - John Terry (Chelsea)

It took more than two decades for another player to join this elusive list but the Chelsea captain ensured that he cut into the record with some style. In Jose Mourinho's second spell at Stamford Bridge, club captain John Terry was once again entrusted with a first-team role. And eventually, he proved undroppable as ​Chelsea romped to the title, leading the league for a record 274 days. Winning the league made him the most successful captain in the club’s history with a fourth Premier League title.

2015/16 - Wes Morgan (Leicester City)

In perhaps one of the most fairytale campaigns in football history, Leicester City won the Premier League title with Wes Morgan immediately emulating Terry playing every minute as the ever-present captain lifting the trophy. He formed a strong partnership with Robert Huth in central defence as the Foxes lost just three times to win the league for the first time in their history.

2016/17 - Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)

Under the guidance of Antonio Conte, the fullback was slotted into the three-man defence and it proved to be the turning point for the Blues that season. They conceded only 33 goals with Azpilicueta playing every minute of it, forming a partnership alongside David Luiz and Gary Cahill. The team finished seven points clear of Tottenham and became the first side in Premier League history to register 30 wins in a single campaign.