Ranking the 10 best Premier League left backs for 2025

Tottenham star Destiny Udogie and U21 standout Lewis Hall of Newcastle help headline our list of the best Premier League left backs going into 2025.

10. Emerson Palmieri, West Ham

It’s incredible to think that the battle for the 10th-best left back in the Premier League comes down to Emerson Palmieri and Andrew Robertson…and the easy answer ends up being Emerson.

The former Chelsea disappointment has revived his career as a defensive left back at West Ham, which is shocking considering he was branded a defensive liability for much of his career.

But between the two 30-year-old veterans of the Premier League, Emerson is the one who looks far less washed and can at least hold his own against an average starting right winger.

9. Leif Davis, Ipswich Town

Although Leif Davis has been a bit disappointing in his maiden Premier League season, the Ipswich Town youngster still has to be considered one of the best Premier League left backs and has a world of potential.

Davis is averaging a solid two key passes per game, and you have to wonder if his overall creative output and reputation would be a lot higher on a better team. That sort of a move should be happening sooner rather than later.

8. Milos Kerkez, Bournemouth

Speaking of highly promising young left backs headed for a transfer in the near future, Bournemouth’s 21-year-old Milos Kerkez appears to be the heir to Robertson’s role at Liverpool if the transfer rumor mill is to be believed.

Kerkez has a goal and three assists this season with over 2.5 tackles and interceptions per game and just 0.5 dribbles completed allowed per match. He is a solid, two-way left back with highly positive creative attributes.

7. Lucas Digne, Aston Villa

Lucas Digne had a pretty poor 2023/24 campaign despite Aston Villa’s success in reaching the Champions League, and while age is catching up to the 31-year-old left back, he remains one of the better players at the position in the Premiership on the back of his intelligence and technical ability.

This season, Digne has been an asset and a fixture on the left-hand side for the Lions with more than 3 combined tackles and interceptions per game and easily over a key pass per match.

That’s a massive defensive improvement from his previous struggles, and his ability to create clear-cut chances for his teammates has never waned. The Frenchman is underrated outside Aston Villa circles but very much belongs on this list.

6. Tyrick Mitchell, Crystal Palace

Tyrick Mitchell doesn’t get much press, but he’s been comfortably one of the best defensive left backs in, quite frankly, all of European football since becoming a starter for the Eagles in the 2020/21 season.

Here in 2024/25, Mitchell is still going strong with 2.9 tackles per game, making it four straight seasons in which the 25-year-old has recorded at least 2.8 tackles per match.

He can’t been ranked any higher due to a serious lack of attacking involvement, but if you want a tried-and-true defensive presence on the left-hand side, there may literally be only one player better in the entire Premier League.

5. Rayan Ait-Nouri, Wolves

That Wolves are out of the relegation zone in the Premier League is largely thanks to Premier League Player of the Season candidate Matheus Cunha, but long-time European football standout Rayan Ait-Nouri deserve significant credit, too.

The 23-year-old established himself as a rapidly rising phenom in Ligue 1 with lowly Angers, and Wolves did very well to pick up the Algerian international during the 2020/21 season.

He’s gone on to become, in all honesty, one of the best Wolves players of the decade so far, bringing reliable two-way ability as a ball-winner, progressor, creator, and even a goal-scorer with three goals on the 2024/25 season so far. In a few years time, he could be safely nestled in the top three.

4. Pervis Estupinan, Brighton

Now 26, Pervis Estupinan is entering the prime of his career for Brighton, and he’s been an immediate success in the Premier League since joining the Seagulls from Villarreal.

About five years ago, Estupinan put himself on the map at Osasuna as one of the best LaLiga left backs, and, if anything, he’s actually shown less growth than he should have since then as he enters his prime years.

Even so, Estupinan is one of the best Premier League left backs from an all-around standpoint with his athleticism, excellent defensive involvements, and underrated creativity. After all, he had five assists last season.

3. Lewis Hall, Newcastle

Lewis Hall probably has the most long-term upside of any Premier League left back, and there are Newcastle fans who will tell you that he should be closer to first on this list.

Undoubtedly, Hall will be threatening for the top spot soon enough, and it’s impressive enough that, at 20 years old, he’s already in the conversation as a top-three left back in the richest league in the world

2. Destiny Udogie, Tottenham

Destiny Udogie is a great example of the success Tottenham have had recruiting from Serie A, and he’s stepped up his play even further after promising at Udinese in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, combining for 8 goals and 8 assists in those campaigns.

A versatile fullback who can even invert on the right side, Udogie’s athleticism and technical quality have made him a fixture for Spurs in an Ange Postecoglou tactical scheme that favors very driven attacking from the fullback positions.

Udogie is an underrated defender, too, with 3.7 combined tackles and interceptions in the 2024/25 season, and even though he plays for Tottenham, it still feels like he’s undervalued in mainstream circles as a 22-year-old left back who is already a top player and has a handful of years of starting experience.

1. Antonee Robinson, Fulham

Antonee Robinson was deservedly named the best USMNT player abroad for the year 2024, and while he’s always been a great defensive fullback – and now the best in the world at that – he’s become a true terror on the offensive end.

After registering a career high six assists in an excellent 2023/24 season, Robinson is at seven assists already in 2024/25 and outdoing himself. He is, bar none, the best left back in the Premier League right now, running away the mantle amidst an elite season on both ends of the pitch.

Kevin Parvizi

The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.