The Premier League is home to some of the best defenders in world football.
From Liverpool stars Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, to Arsenal star William Saliba, to Ruben Dias and Man City’s John Stones, the league is full of genuinely brilliant defenders.
But who do we think will be the best of the bunch during the 2024/25 season?
Well, as part of ours top 90 series, that’s what we’re here to find out.
Here are our top 20 Premier League defenders – ranked.
After starting the 2023/24 season unsure of his place in the Arsenal line-up, Gabriel Magalhaes has forced himself into the forefront of Mikel Arteta’s plans with consistently impressive performances throughout the campaign.
Now at the start of 2024/25, Gabriel is one of Arteta’s most trusted squad members and will play a major role in the Gunners’ inevitable title challenge.
Signed as a replacement for Aaron Wan Bissaka at right-back, it has been easy to see why Erik ten Hag wanted Noussair Mazraoui in the summer window.
Unlike Wan Bissaka, Mazraoui is capable of providing genuine quality in the final third.
He can also defend his flank quite well.
£17.2m could end up looking like a bargain for the Red Devils.
After a season lost to injury, Levi Colwill is back in top form and looks set to have the big campaign Chelsea fans have been hoping for.
Without a doubt, the defender has all the necessary attributes to thrive in Enzo Maresca’s tactical possession system.
He is excellent on the ball, malleable in position and also able to read the game.
This could be their year.
Very few summer signings made as much sense as Arsenal’s acquisition of Riccardo Calafiori.
Euro 2024 will plug an explicit hole in the Gunners defense as an inverted left-back who can not only drift upfield and create with the ball, but also defend (something Oleksandr Zinchenko does not excel at).
Without Josko Gvardiol’s four goals at the end of the 2023/24 season, Manchester City may not be the reigning Premier League champions.
That’s how important his contributions were last season.
And this season, we expect the left-back to be as important as a Pep Guardiola team that will fight on all fronts.
The first “big bold cry” on this list.
Murillo wasn’t a player anyone was overly familiar with heading into the 2023/24 season – after all, he had played 27 professional games in his lifetime – but by the end of the campaign, it was clear that Nottingham Forest had some serious talent .
From his last ditch challenges, to his multiple attempts to score from the halfway line, Murillo seems to have a little bit of everything in his locker.
Don’t be surprised to see one of the big six trying to sign him next summer.
When Real Madrid are determined to secure your services, chances are you’re pretty good at soccer.
And that’s exactly what Leny Yoro.
The youngster opted to join Man Utd in the summer, and it’s a decision he will look back on for the next decade.
Although injured at the start of the 2024/25 campaign, when Yoro returns he will become a key player for his new club.
He may be reckless at times, he may have a brain fart, but on his day there’s no denying that Cristian Romero is a genuinely brilliant centre-back.
If Tottenham are to find a route back into the UEFA Champions League this season, those days will need to be a little more frequent than they were in 2023/24, and we have faith that they will be.
If we could guarantee that John Stones will be fit for the entire 2024/25 campaign, it’s likely to be a lot closer to the top of this list than he is.
However, thanks to his constant injury problems, we struggled to put him higher than 12th on this list.
That doesn’t mean he can’t contribute this season, as when he’s fit he certainly will. He is a top level player.
Having cemented his place in England’s starting line-up during Euro 2024, Marc Guehi enters 2024/25 looking to cement his place among the best centre-backs in world football.
Given his talent and the improvements manager Oliver Glasner has made at Crystal Palace, we’re going for him again.
After a period of surprising underperformance and lack of game time, former FWA Footballer of the Year Ruben Dias seems to have found his mojo again.
The defender was hugely impressive during City’s title-winning campaign last time out, and will be key to their quest for more silverware in 2024/25.
Ben White is one such player you should have in your Fantasy Premier League squad this season.
He’ll start every game, keep a clean sheet for you and also pop in with some goal contributions thanks to his ability in the final third.
He is one of Arteta’s most trusted players.
After apparently being signed as a rotation option in 2020, Nathan Ake has become one of Man City’s most reliable defensive options in recent seasons.
Whether central, left-back, right-back or even midfielder on occasion, Ake is a constant player for Pep Guardiola’s side.
Have you seen how bad Everton are when Jarrad Branthwaite is unavailable?
They are terrible.
With him, though, they looked very solid at the end of 2023/24.
Expect the Toffees to be much improved upon his return.
Matthijs de Ligt was once the most exciting defensive talent in world football.
After a mediocre spell at Juventus and a failure at Bayern Munich, however, he finds himself in a last-chance situation at Manchester United.
Fortunately for the Dutch defender, Erik ten Hag, the man who once got the best of Ajax, is the current boss, so hopes are high that De Ligt can rejuvenate his career at Old Trafford.
Despite England’s struggles to figure out how to use Trent Alexander-Arnold, at club level the Scouser is rightly regarded as the best right-back in the Premier League.
Alexander-Arnold has been impressive in the opening weeks of the campaign, and we expect him to continue his form after the September international break.
When Lisandro Martinez was injured last season, Manchester United’s defensive unit looked completely hopeless.
When he returned to action for the FA Cup final, they were good enough to beat Manchester City.
Coincidence? Definitely not.
The Argentine is a game-changer for the Red Devils, and his availability will largely determine the club’s performance in the Premier League in 2024/25.
Micky van de Ven may be the fastest man on the planet.
It is this rate of recovery that makes him one of the best defenders in the Premier League and allows Tottenham to play an outrageous defensive line.
After three weeks of the 2024/25 Premier League season, a defense led by Virgil van Dijk has conceded zero goals.
That tells you all you need to know about the kind of form the veteran defender is in this season.
He is an all-time great.
From an all-time great, to a future all-time great.
Over the past two years, William Saliba has become the best defender in the Premier League, and we’re backing him to take his game to another level this year.
The France international will be key to Arsenal’s title hopes this season.
