Premier League Defender Profile Rankings November 2025

We are just under a third of the way through the season now and I figured it's worth a look at how players in the Premier League are performing against my player profile's for each role. The tables below respresent the season so far with a % score which is ranked against all Premier League players in the same position over the last 3 seasons. So a score of 100% would be the best ranking over the last 3 seasons. I've also included the 2024-25 tables alongside each role to show the movers and shakers.

All these profiles are based on a combination of stats from FBRef and come weightings across certain skillsets. They include an adjustment for the team the players represent to try and even things out when it comes to high possession, dominance etc. The main caveat is always that the stats often just tell you WHAT players do the most, and don't always show you how well they do it. Was there a better option available etc etc, however I do think the profiles tend to reflect the eye-test in the style of players.

The most notable change in the defensive rankings for Forest is the role of our centre-backs due to the Ange Erorr. Milenkovic for example has gone from inclusion in the top 30 for being a traditional stopper to ranking 3rd as a deep conductor. Indeed Morato & Murillo join Milenkovic in making up the Top 3 or that profile which shows how much we tried to build from the back until recently. Milenkovic also now appears in the Quarterback profile which perhaps shows his changing role under Dyche where he has more license to play long balls into attackers.

Neco Williams is the star of the show for Forest, currently ranked top of the Wingback table, havign finished last season ranked 5th.

Hjalmar Ekdale & Bafode Diakite would be the centre-backs to keep an eye on for the big fish of football to start sniffing around based on their performances defensively so far. Last season's rankings show the influence of Bournemouth's Huijsen and Zabarnyi and while their new defensive aren't ranked quite as high they are showing promise.

Kayode at Brentford continues to impress. Still has some raw edges, but he's a powerful fullback that teams will be keeping an eye on while he's still only 21. Wolves is a funny one at the moment. They have been poor and yet there is a decent list of players in their team that other sides would be looking at. Hugo Bueno is another one of those based on these numbers, who's doing well at just 22 years old. Perhaps they are due an uptick in results if a manager can get them organised and overcome their lack of experience across the team.

Liverpool's defence is worth a mention as well. Their fullbacks don't feature in the tables at all perhaps due to lack of minutes (minimum for inclusions is 30%) and their centre-backs are becoming less involved in play. Konate is playing like an out and out stopper in the Milenkovic mould. While van Dijk is also moving that way and sliding down the Deep Conductor rankings. Perhaps the end of the van Dijk era is here and Liverpool haven't realised he's just lost enough of his edge, that extra 2% you need to win titles?