Best Premier League defenders - 2024/25 power rankings
- Focus on players who score goals and contribute assists but just as much value in defence
- Virgil van Dijk back to his very best for early frontrunners Liverpool
- 2024/25 season power rankings fluctuate based on form over the campaign
The scrutiny that comes with being a Premier League defender is often too much to bare.
It's a division laden with attacking superstars who are paid to make those tasked with stopping them look ever so silly. It's only the very best who swim and prosper in the English top flight. So many sink.
The array of tactical ideas currently present means Premier League defenders come in all different shapes and sizes. From physical brutes to dynamic full-backs, elite recovery defenders to inverters, no defender is the same.
90min ranks the Premier League's best defenders based on their 2024/25 performances.
5. Dean Huijsen (Bournemouth) - New entry
Bournemouth have been without Marcos Senesi for the past month, but his absence has hardly been recognised as a result of the teenager's emergence.
Huijsen has slotted in seamlessly to a dynamic but ultimately impressive Bournemouth backline, with the Spaniard's partner, Illia Zabarnyi, also deserving of plaudits.
Huijsen has caught the eye in recent weeks as a result of his nonchalant aesthetic and goalscoring threat. The defender's scored in victories over Tottenham and Manchester United from set-pieces, and the bargain price the Cherries scooped him up for in the summer looks even cheaper by the game.
4. Nikola Milenkovic (Nottingham Forest) 🔽
Quietly going about his business in the east Midlands is Nottingham Forest's giant centre-back Nikola Milenkovic.
The Serbian international has proved to be the perfect partner for the emerging Murillo, transforming Forest's fortunes as they look to build on some impressive work by head coach Nuno Espirito Santo.
No player has been more crucial to their rise than Milenkovic, who is a dominant presence in their backline. After netting his first goal for the club against Manchester United, the Serbian international scored his second the following week to kick-start a dramatic comeback victory over Aston Villa.
3. Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool) - New entry
Arne Slot has wisely managed Alexander-Arnold's minutes in recent weeks, but the revolutionary full-back continues to remind us all of his freakish gift.
Returning to a more conventional right-back function has brought the best out of the Englishman again. He's looked sturdy enough defensively and remains a key catalyst when Liverpool have possession.
Alexander-Arnold help turn the tide off the bench at St. James' Park in a thrilling 3-3 draw, and Tottenham couldn't cope with his pinpoint delivery in Liverpool's bonkers 6-3 triumph before Christmas.
2. William Saliba (Arsenal) ↔️
Arsenal's overall standards have slipped slightly during the 2024/25 campaign, with that downturn evident in the number of points they have dropped.
But one player who can't be questioned is William Saliba, who continues to go from strength to strength in the heart of central defence. The Frenchman is calm in possession, a monster in physical duels and reads the game remarkably well.
Few can match the consistency and imperiousness of Arsenal's superstar centre-back, who has also been among the goals for the Gunners in recent matches as they become a set-piece juggernaut.
1. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) ↔️
The Virgil van Dijk fall-off, which many projected amid a disappointing 2022/23, has not yet come to pass.
Indeed, the Liverpool captain is playing some of his very best football at Anfield, with Van Dijk rarely flummoxed by those who attempt to breach the Reds' backline.
The game often passes him by in the best possible way which is a reflection of just how good he is.
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