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 fluctuates 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. William Saliba (Arsenal) ⬇️
Arsenal's overall standards have slipped 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. Gabriel is a top notch performer as well, but it's the consistency and calmness that the Frenchman brings that glues everything together.
4. Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton) ⬆️
Brighton's outstanding progress is a surprise to many, but Seagulls fans have known all along what was brewing on the south coast.
Unfortunately, one of their best kept secrets, Dutch centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke, is now showing the Premier League exactly what he can do week in, week out.
More than capable defending his own box, Van Hecke was a terrific modern day ball-playing centre-back who helps transition Brighton forward in the blink of an eye.
3. Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool) ↔️
Liverpool's Ibrahima Konate has seen his abiity questioned time and again, but now looks to be in a real groove at Anfield.
The Frenchman has forged a tremendous partnership with Virgil van Dijk and is a major reason why Arne Slot has enjoyed so much success in the early days of his tenure.
2. 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.
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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