The Premier League is awash with talented forwards like Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah, and it’s also got plenty of players at the opposite end of the park who can put in game-winning performances.
From dynamic wing-backs, to inverted full-backs, to granite centre-backs, the English top flight is blessed with the lot.
90min’s power rankings attempts to pick out the seven most in-form defenders of the 2023/24Premier League campaign.
*Updated 05/03/24
Tottenham’s full-backs, Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie, have rightly been praised for their performance this season.
But probably the most impressive performer of all (Cristian Romero has been good and extremely disciplined too) has been Micky van de Ven, who has taken to Premier League football like a duck to water.
It’s hard to really put your finger on what role John Stones plays because, well, he’s everywhere for Manchester City.
Occasionally he’ll be where you’d expect a centre-back to be, but more often than not he’ll be pushing up higher than midfield metronome Rodri and sometimes gets as far as joining Erling Haaland in the frontline. Bizarre, but it works.
Brazil fans may have it in for Gabriel Magalhaes, but he’s certainly adored at club level.
The centre-back has been outstanding for Arsenal recently, playing a key role in the club’s superb run of form in 2024.
A key figure in Everton’s attempts at all-encompassing aerial control, Jarrad Branthwaite has the ability to dominate in both boxes.
He scored a stoppage-time equaliser against Tottenham Hotspur and has generally been front and centre of anything positive produced by Sean Dyche’s Toffees.
On his day there are very few better in the world than William Saliba.
The Frenchman’s form dipped a little, with a high-profile blunder against Liverpool one particular lapse to forget, but he’s excelled again in recent weeks as Arsenal’s title charge has reignited.
Hailed as Liverpool’s “life saver” by Jurgen Klopp at the turn of the year, Joe Gomez’s enduring versatility has papered over the defensive injury crisis on Merseyside.
Whether on the left or right, charging down the wing or inverting into midfield, Gomez has executed everything required of him.
The Virgil van Dijk of old has returned this season.
That’s not to say that he is impervious to errors but they only stand out given how infrequently they occur.
