Top 10 Premier League centre-backs: Van Dijk still imperious, no Saliba | OneFootball

Virgil van Dijk might not be as good as he was last season, but the Liverpool skipper remains the best centre-back in the Premier League…

Van Dijk has come under fire this term which, as captain of a fading force, is fair.

But while he also may have struggled to maintain his previous levels individually, that is perhaps because they were so high. Remember, this is a defender Jamie Carragher described as ‘too good for the highest level’.

Van Dijk remains the highest-graded centre-back in the Premier League this season. About those grades…

Gradient’s Player Grades measure execution rather than outcome. The grading process begins with Gradient’s team of analysts evaluating over 2,000 events per game – everything a player does during a match from aerial duels to dribbling to set-piece shooting, and everything in between.

Each event is graded on a scale of -2 to +2 in 0.5 increments; 0 representing expected execution, positive or negative grades are awarded for a performance that is better or worse than expected. Those grades are then translated into an easy to understand 0-100 game and season rating across over 50 grading categories, including an overall performance grade.

With that, we present the top 10 centre-backs in the Premier League…

10) Marcos Senesi (Bournemouth) – 73

The Bournemouth defender leads the league for clearances and is behind only Dan Burn for clearances above expectation. It’s a similar story in winning duels above expectation: only Maxence Lacroix has done (slightly) better. But for interceptions, no one has more than Senesi.

9) Lewis Dunk (Brighton) – 73.2

It seems that Gradient don’t do grades for ‘chesting ball back to goalkeeper’ but Dunk’s would doubtless be a perfect score. Dunk is never afraid to but his body in the way of the ball, with no defender recording more pressures on shots. The only clubs with a pair of centre-backs in the top 10 are Brighton and…

8) Ruben Dias (Manchester City) – 73.3

With Marc Guehi’s arrival and Abdukodir Khusanov’s emergence, some are suggesting that Dias’s time at City could be winding down. The Portugal defender, though, is only 28 and just a year into a four-year contract he signed last summer. And there is a very promising look about the partnership he has formed with…

7) Marc Guehi (Manchester City) – 73.9

Only Senesi and Virgil van Dijk have more pass interceptions, but Guehi has more than anyone that were performed above expectation. We remain utterly baffled why Liverpool allowed City a free run at the England defender for the sake of around £20million.

6) Malick Thiaw (Newcastle United) – 74.4

The one undoubted success of Newcastle’s summer transfer window, Thiaw has been outstanding in his first season in the Premier League. At least the queue of Toon players for the exit this summer makes it less likely they will lose the Germany centre-back.

5) Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United) – 74.6

The Manchester United defender struggles to stay fit but he’s a dab hand at finding a hair bobble when you’re not looking for one. Sadly, there are no recorded stats for walking with the ball under no pressure before putting your foot on it,. Snark aside, it is clear that he’s a huge asset to United when he’s paired with the right partner.

4) Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal) – 75.5

No William Saliba in the top 10, but it is fair to pin Gabriel as the better of Arsenal’s two centre-backs this season. Both were in the top 10 last season – Gabriel sixth, two ahead of Saliba – whereas Saliba is down in 26th this term.

3) Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton) – 75.7

A second season as a top-10 graded centre-back for van Hecke, though last season the Dutchman was fifth with a score of 82.0. So it’s little wonder the bigger boys are sniffing around the Seagulls defender. If Brighton are asking for £50million, this suggests they are not being unreasonable.

2) Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa) – 75.9

Almost certain to start for England at the World Cup alongside Marc Guehi. The City man has the most interceptions above expectation while Konsa has more positioning events above expectation and a higher tackle success rate than any other centre-back. Coming home, innit?

1) Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – 81.9

There are many who feel Liverpool made a mistake extending Van Dijk’s big-money contract for two more years last summer, but how bad would things have been if they had let him go free? The Reds skipper has had more ‘events’ than any other central defender, as he did last season when he was also the top-graded centre-back, though then he scored 88.6. Van Dijk has won the highest percentage of aerial duels (74%) of any outfield player, with the next best – Cristian Romero – 9% behind.