It’s very early in the 2024/25 Premier League season, but let’s try a fun exercise and rank the best defenses in the league, solely based on current statistical performance this season.
I will award five points awarded to the team ranked first in the category and one point given to a team ranked in fifth.
Expected goals allowed, shots on target allowed, and combined tackles and interceptions are the three metrics used to rank the sides. The points were doubled for expected goals allowed to weigh its greater importance.
5. Manchester United
Manchester United added two new starters to their back line this summer in former Bayern Munich and Ajax players Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui at center and right back, respectively.
Both players have paid huge dividends to Manchester United immediately, with De Ligt shining as one of the best players in European football with his goal-scoring performance against Southampton last weekend.
Meanwhile, even as Aaron Wan-Bissaka impresses at West Ham after exiting Manchester United, the Red Devils have been even better off at the right back position with Mazraoui also playing shut down defense.
The best part for Manchester United is that they will be even stronger when 18-year-old phenom Leny Yoro returns from injury. As it stands, the Red Devils lead the league in combined tackles and interceptions per game.
4. Arsenal
Arsenal have the best center back partnership in the Premier League, and, technically, they have the best center back quartet in the Premiership because right back Ben White and new left back Riccardo Calafiori are also center backs by trade.
The Gunners are in the top five in shots on target allowed and expected goals allowed through four games. However, they do rank behind fellow Premier League title hopefuls Manchester City and Liverpool.
3. Nottingham Forest
Not only are Nottingham Forest among the leaders in tackles and interceptions per game, but they have also allowed the third-fewest expected goals of any Premier League side after four games.
Forest have a sturdy and extremely underrated back line, so their successful, even to this early point in the season, cannot be taken as a fluke.
Murillo is one of the top center backs in the Premier League and was on the radar of many clubs this summer. Next to him, Nottingham Forest signed one of the more underappreciated central defenders in Serie A, Fiorentina standout Nikola Milenkovic, who has been a gem.
On the flanks, Nottingham Forest have Ola Aina at left back and then Neco Williams at right back, with Williams playing so well that only Pedro Porro of Tottenham has been as statistically as impressive as the Welsh international.
2. Manchester City
On paper, Manchester City have the most talented defense in the Premier League with players like Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji supplementing legitimate superstars like Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol.
They have been sensational defensively this season, just like they were last season, second in expected goals allowed and tied for second in shots on target allowed with fewer total shots allowed than all the teams tied with them.
1. Liverpool
As excellent as the Manchester City defenders are individually and as well as they have performed with just three goals allowed, Liverpool have allowed just one goal and are first in the league in both expected goals allowed and shots on target allowed with just 10 surrendered in 4 games.
Liverpool have the best center back in the world today in Virgil van Dijk, as well as the best fullback duo in world football between Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, even if contrarians want to pretend like they aren’t world-class.
TAA has been especially brilliant, tossing aside all the claims that he is overrated or not a good defender, when, in fact, he is a brilliant one-on-one defender at the right back position despite spending so much time attacking.
As for the man in goal, Alisson Becker is by far the standard-setter among Premier League goalkeepers and one of the two most important Liverpool players alongside the legendary Mohamed Salah.
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.