The top speeds reached by Premier League players so far this season

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The Football Faithful

·2 October 2024

The top speeds reached by Premier League players so far this season

You have to possess immense talent to make it in the Premier League, but you also need freakish athleticism.

Perhaps not to the level of muscle-bound force of nature Adama Traore, but certainly to a really high degree.

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The top flight is full of flighty and incredibly fast players, not just in wide areas but in defensive positions as well.

That much was made clear when Opta revealed the top speeds reached by players in the Premier League in the first six gameweeks of this season.

Read – Premier League players with the most goal involvements since 2023/24

Several wingers are there as expected, but in first place, just as he was last season, is Spurs centre-back Micky van de Ven, who has already clocked 37.12km/h this term.

The Dutch defender showed off his pure speed at Old Trafford on Sunday when he hurried down the pitch with he ball, whizzing past a number of Manchester United players before setting up Brennan Johnson for Tottenham’s opener.

Long gone are the days when your centre half was a big lump who just had to win his aerial duels and boot the ball out of danger. As well as needing to be able to play in possession, they need to be super quick to keep up with all the speed merchants trying to get in behind the backline.

Guys like Anthony Elanga, Timo Werner, Gabriel Martinelli and Alejandro Garnacho; all wide forwards who have hit some of the top speeds in the Premier League this season, albeit a tad slower than Van de Ven.

Third on the list, though, is none other than big Erling Haaland. The Manchester City striker may be a man mountain, but he also has pace to burn, making him an absolute nightmare for defenders to deal with.