Top 5 Centre Backs In The Premier League (Based On Aerial Dominance)

David Tully

4 months ago

Categories: Galleries, West Ham United News

Tags: Arsenal, aston villa, Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Southampton, Spurs, West Ham, Wolves

Winning headers is a key part of a defender’s game, especially in the Premier League where crosses and long balls are still more prevalent than in other competitions.

The CIES Football Observatory has created an index (ranked from 0 to 100) that assesses the aerial play of every centre-half in the world.

To work out the ranking, they used five metrics; the number of aerial duels won, aerial win %, game time, frequency of aerial duels based on their club stature, and the level of football they are playing at.

Press the next page as we look at the best five Premier League centre-backs by aerial dominance (according to CIES‘s index).

5) James Tarkowski (Everton) – 83.2

The 31-year-old is very much an old-fashioned centre-back.

Tarkowski is not afraid to put in a challenge; some of which have been known to step over the line in terms of aggression.

Aerially, he has always been pretty dominant, and that comes with the territory when playing under head coach Sean Dyche.

Tarkowski has now been managed by Dyche at both Burnley and Everton.

4) Cristian Romero (Tottenham) – 85.5

Like Tarkowski, the Argentinian international is not one for taking any prisoners.

Romero has got himself a reputation for lacking discipline, and he does pick up his fair share of yellow cards.

However, for someone who is just 6ft 1, he does punch well above his weight when it comes to aerial battles.

Romero’s ability to win headers is definitely an underrated part of his game.

3) Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool) – 86.3

The 24-year-old is one of two Liverpool players in our top five.

Konate is a man mountain. Not only is he 6ft 4, but he has a large frame that makes it very difficult for strikers to bully him.

When you also consider the fact that the Frenchman is no slouch in terms of his pace, the Reds really did find themselves a gem when they bought him from RB Leipzig two and a half years ago.

If he can keep himself fit, Konate has the makings to be the best centre-back in the Premier League.

2) Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle) – 89.4

The Magpies captain found himself on the periphery when his team finished 4th in the Premier League last season.

However, an injury to Sven Botman has meant that Lascelles has played a lot more often over the past few months.

While the 30-year-old is not the quickest, he is up there with the top defenders in English football when it comes to winning headers.

Lascelles is, however, back on the sidelines, having picked up a calf problem earlier this month.

1) Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – 93.0

According to CIES, the Reds captain is not only the best in the Premier League but the best in the world when measuring aerial duels.

Van Dijk very rarely loses a battle in the air with an opponent and that has allowed Liverpool to dominate teams both in the Premier League and in Europe over the past six years.

The Netherlands international is now 32 years of age so it remains to be seen how long he will stay at the top of his game.

However, after his form was questioned last season, van Dijk appears to be back to his very best now.