World Cup 2018: Top 20 centre-backs in the tournament

12. Nicolas Otamendi

Nicolas Otamendi

Stones’ partner for most of the Premier League season was Nicolas Otamendi, who along with the Englishman helped provide defensive solidity to Manchester City’s rampant attacking juggernaut. In fact, the Citizens conceded the least goals in the Premier league. Otamendi’s role in that defensive performance was even greater than Stones’ as he achieved a player rating of 7.13 in the Premier League. The Argentine’s defensive statistics were excellent (considering Manchester City’s attacking style) as he made 1.7 tackles, 1.4 interceptions and 3.6 clearances per game. The 30 year old showed incredible discipline as he won 72.4% of tackles. Otamendi was also excellent in the air, winning 80.5% of his aerial duels and also managing to score four goals during the league season. Like any Guardiola player, Otamendi is also an excellent passer, with a pass success percentage of 91.9% in the Premier League- a number which ranked 4th in the Premier League. A great sign for Argentina is the fact that Otamendi managed to rise to the moment in the Champions League, achieving an even higher player rating of 7.28.

What prevents Otamendi from rising even higher in these rankings is his lack of pace and tendency to make major errors. The former issue is especially important considering that Argentine manager Jorge Sampioli is likely to play an incredibly aggressive 2-3-5 formation. In such a formation, the role of the centre-back in preventing counter-attacks is immense- something that the 30 year old Otamendi (who was never pacey in his younger days) may not be able to do.

11. Marquinhos

Marquinhos

It seems like just yesterday, when Marquinhos was considered one of the best centre-back prospects in the world. In 2013, he became one of the World’s most expensive teenagers when he was signed for 31.4 million euros- an astronomical fee for a defender. While the Brazilian struggled in his first few seasons, he has now begun to live up to those aforementioned expectations. The 24 year old had a decent WhoScored player rating of 6.91 in Ligue 1 last year. Marquinhos was excellent in the air, winning 64% of aerial duels and even more impressively, 78.6% of tackles. Moreover, the Brazilian was extremely disciplined, committing only 0.3 fouls per game. Perhaps, his biggest improvement has been in his passing and ball distribution. While previously a decent passer, the 24 year old is now one of the best passing defenders in the world. He had a pass success percentage of 93.9% and had 4.1 successful long balls per game. The latter bodes well for Brazil in games where the Selecao struggle to break down inferior teams. An even better sign for Brazil is Marquinhos’s performances at the highest stage: the Champions League. The PSG player had an average player rating of 7.08 in Europe’s premier competition.

However, Marquinhos is still an imperfect player who hasn’t reached his potential. The Brazilian’s defensive stats were poor with 1.1 tackles, 0.6 interceptions and 0.8 blocks per game. This will have to improve if Marquinhos is to help Brazil win a record sixth World Cup.