Best players in the Premier League: Top 10 centre-backs this season

Modified May 14, 2019 14:11 GMT

Liverpool FC v Wolverhampton Wanderers - Premier League

#1 Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands, Liverpool)

Newcastle United v Liverpool FC - Premier League

When Jurgen Klopp broke the bank for the Dutchman in January last year, everyone questioned his decision. Cut to a year and a half and van Dijk is perhaps the nearest competitor to Lionel Messi for the Ballon d'Or this year! The Dutchman has been phenomenal for Liverpool and the German coach has been ably rewarded for his farsightedness.

van Dijk is a calm and composed presence in the defense that is the epitome of every champion team. He provides the solidity at the back that allows Liverpool to attack at will and play Klopp's "heavy metal" football. The Dutchman is outstanding in the air and is also an exceptional passer of the ball. He has averaged around 80 passes per game in the league and has 203 accurate long balls to his name. His tackling has also been perfect; van Dijk does not always dive into tackles, but when he does, he has a brilliant tackle success rate of 74%!

The Dutchman is a constant threat from set-pieces too and has been an ever-present feature in the Liverpool defense this season, starting in all 38 games, scoring 4 goals and registering 2 assists. He was the main reason why Liverpool lost just 1 game in the entire season and is, without doubt, the best defender in the Premier League this season.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written over 8500 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

Know More

Edited by Sujith M