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Top 20 Best Premier League Defenders 2026
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) is the best Premier League defender in our 2026-27 ratings: 93, the highest of the 178 defenders we rate and one point clear of William Saliba and Rúben Dias. Top five: Virgil van Dijk 93, William Saliba 92, Rúben Dias 92, Gabriel Magalhães 91, Joško Gvardiol 90.
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Top 10 Defenders in the Premier League (2026)
| # | Player | Role | Club | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virgil van DijkLiverpool’s top-rated defender | CB | Liverpool | 93 |
| 2 | William SalibaArsenal’s top-rated defender | CB | Arsenal | 92 |
| 3 | Rúben DiasManchester City’s top-rated defender | CB | Man City | 92 |
| 4 | Gabriel Magalhães2nd of Arsenal’s 9 defenders | CB | Arsenal | 91 |
| 5 | Joško Gvardiol2nd of Manchester City’s 10 defenders · 2 points clear of No. 6 | CB | Man City | 90 |
| 6 | Jurriën Timber3rd of Arsenal’s 9 defenders | RB | Arsenal | 88 |
| 7 | Piero Hincapié4th of Arsenal’s 9 defenders | CB | Arsenal | 87 |
| 8 | Lisandro MartínezManchester United’s top-rated defender | CB | Man United | 86 |
| 9 | Riccardo Calafiori5th of Arsenal’s 9 defenders | LB | Arsenal | 85 |
| 10 | Abdukodir KhusanovJoint 3rd of Manchester City’s 10 defenders | CB | Man City | 85 |
Perfect Eleven is a free browser game: a wheel spins to a random Premier League club and you pick one player from it, building a starting XI from all 20 squads. Chemistry rewards a side that fits together — so the best players don't always make the best team.
▶ Play free — 20 seconds, no signupTop 20 Premier League Defenders: 11 to 20
| # | Player | Role | Club | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Marc GuéhiJoint 3rd of Manchester City’s 10 defenders | CB | Man City | 85 |
| 12 | Matthijs de Ligt2nd of Manchester United’s 9 defenders | CB | Man United | 85 |
| 13 | Pau TorresAston Villa’s top-rated defender | CB | Aston Villa | 84 |
| 14 | Rayan Aït-NouriJoint 5th of Manchester City’s 10 defenders | LB | Man City | 84 |
| 15 | Matheus NunesJoint 5th of Manchester City’s 10 defenders | RB | Man City | 84 |
| 16 | Diogo Dalot3rd of Manchester United’s 9 defenders | RB | Man United | 84 |
| 17 | Jan Paul van HeckeTottenham’s top-rated defender | CB | Tottenham | 84 |
| 18 | Ezri Konsa6th of Arsenal’s 9 defenders | CB | Arsenal | 83 |
| 19 | Reece JamesChelsea’s top-rated defender | RB | Chelsea | 83 |
| 20 | Jarrad BranthwaiteEverton’s top-rated defender | CB | Everton | 83 |
Top 30 Premier League Defenders: 21 to 30
| # | Player | Role | Club | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Leny YoroJoint 4th of Manchester United’s 9 defenders | CB | Man United | 83 |
| 22 | Noussair MazraouiJoint 4th of Manchester United’s 9 defenders | RB | Man United | 83 |
| 23 | Nikola MilenkovićNottingham Forest’s top-rated defender | CB | Nottm Forest | 83 |
| 24 | Micky van de Ven2nd of Tottenham’s 8 defenders | CB | Tottenham | 83 |
| 25 | Ben White7th of Arsenal’s 9 defenders | RB | Arsenal | 82 |
| 26 | Victor Lindelöf2nd of Aston Villa’s 9 defenders | CB | Aston Villa | 82 |
| 27 | Levi Colwill2nd of Chelsea’s 10 defenders | CB | Chelsea | 82 |
| 28 | Antonee RobinsonFulham’s top-rated defender | LB | Fulham | 82 |
| 29 | Jeremie Frimpong2nd of Liverpool’s 9 defenders | RB | Liverpool | 82 |
| 30 | Sven BotmanNewcastle’s top-rated defender | CB | Newcastle | 82 |
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How we rank
Full-backs and centre-backs share one list and one scale, ordered by overall rating. The ratings are editorial judgements of each player for 2026-27 rather than a tally of tackles or clean sheets, so compare players within the role as well as by the number.
The number changes only when we update the squad data: moves come from the official Fantasy Premier League data, and a new signing carries a provisional rating, estimated from his FPL price, until it is reviewed by hand. Players on the same rating are level; the list shows them club by club, A to Z. The same base numbers drive the draft, the power rankings and how your XI is graded.
The ▲ or ▼ beside a rating, when one shows, is something else: his in-game form today, worked out once a day from his club’s last four Premier League matches (goals, assists, clean sheets, FPL’s match score and more) and capped at eight points either way. It moves his rating inside the game, never the number or the order on this page (how form works). How our ratings are made.
The tiers
Virgil van Dijk at 93 leads a top five separated by three points, which makes defence the tightest elite group in the league. Behind him come William Saliba (92), Rúben Dias (92), Gabriel Magalhães (91) and Joško Gvardiol (90).
Arsenal place seven defenders in this top thirty and Manchester City six more. That is 43% of the league’s best defenders belonging to two clubs, in a pool of 178 rated defenders across twenty squads.
Because full-backs and centre-backs share one scale, compare within the club as well as by the number. Sven Botman at 82 is Newcastle’s highest-rated defender; Ben White at the same rating is only Arsenal’s seventh. The rating is honest about quality and silent about context.
What this means for your draft
A back four takes four of your picks, so defence is where the wheel tests your patience most. Take the best available early rather than holding out for a top-five name — the drop from 93 to 82 across thirty players is gentler than at any other position, so the cost of settling is genuinely low.
Chemistry comes from nationality, not club, so defenders who share a country can be worth more together than their ratings alone suggest. The draft strategy guide shows how the links add up.
Common questions
Who is the highest rated defender? Virgil van Dijk at 93.
Are full-backs and centre-backs rated separately? No — one scale covers both, so a full-back and a centre-back on the same number are rated as equally good overall.
How many defenders are rated? All 178 across the 20 squads.
Latest analysis
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