Comparing Ruben Dias, Virgil van Dijk and Wiliam Saliba's 23/24 Premier League stats so far | OneFootball

Highlights

The Premier League season is now 12 games old meaning almost a third of the competition's games have been played. It is at this point that people can begin to make their minds up on how the campaign is unfolding for teams and players alike. Some players will be struggling to live up to expectations, others will be surpassing the level they were anticipated to be at and some will be operating at a world-class level as they always do.

Virgil van Dijk, Rúben Dias and William Saliba tend to fit into the latter camp as the three men are widely regarded as the best centre-backs in the Premier League as things stand. Van Dijk was at the peak of his powers during Liverpool's rise to Premier League and Champions League glory from 2018 to 2020 before an ACL injury suffered against Everton meant a lengthy spell on the sidelines. The Dutch centre-back was on the cusp of greatness as he narrowly missed out on the 2019 Ballon d'Or by seven points to Lionel Messi.

5 interesting facts about Virgil Van Dijk

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Manchester City's Dias has been regarded highly in recent years as the Portuguese defender was handed the unenviable task of becoming Vincent Kompany's long-term successor at the Etihad. With City completing a historic treble in 2023/24, including a first-ever Champions League trophy, the 26-year-old has been placed underneath the spotlight even more so than he previously was.

With Arsenal's rise to becoming regular challengers in the Premier League title race under Mikel Arteta, Saliba has been a massive cog in the machine that has been the Gunners' young side over the past 18 months. After impressing during a loan spell with Marseille back in France in 2021/22, the young defender returned to the Emirates and became an instant starter. Saliba has a very bright future ahead as the youngest of the three men.

has emerged on X (formerly Twitter), and there are some surprising results.

Rúben Dias struggles in comparison

Despite being a very strong contender for being the best central defender in the division, Dias did not come out on top in any of the 10 categories selected for the comparison. An own goal during the Citizens' first league defeat of the season against Wolves sees the Portugal international hold an average of 0.2 own goals per 90 minutes. The other two players in question have yet to find the back of their own net, meaning Dias loses out in this stat.

Each player's team spends the majority of their games with the lion's share of possession, meaning the three are expected to be comfortable on the ball - and it has to be said - they are three of the best in the business at playing out from the back. With that being said, the City defender finishes third when it comes to passing accuracy with an average of 58.97%. This is less than 1% lower than the number posted by Saliba, who was recorded with an accuracy of 59.18% per 90. Van Dijk is imperious when it comes to this statistic as the Liverpool defender has managed more than 70%.

Dias does average 1.6 successful ground duels per 90 minutes which is more than Saliba's 1.3, although the Man City man does attempt less per match, as he only wins 53.85%, while his Arsenal counterpart is successful in 63.5% of his ground duels. Once again, Van Dijk is the clear winner in this field, winning 75% of his ground duels and averaging 1.7 wins per 90.

Virgil van Dijk dominates in comparison to Saliba and Dias

Van Dijk was the most dominant defender in the world during his peak years and the new Liverpool captain looks to be back to his dominant best in 2023/24. The one notch against the Dutchman is his red card picked up against Newcastle United in the third week of the season, in what was a very contentious decision that saw him lose his temper and pick up a further suspension and a massive fine.

There are very few strikers that get the better of Van Dijk and this has been a massive factor contributing to Jürgen Klopp's team making Anfield a fortress once more. The Reds have the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League along with Saliba and Arsenal as both teams have only conceded 10 games from their opening 12 fixtures. Van Dijk is not to be messed with in the air as the 32-year-old has averaged 5.5 aerial duels won per 90 which is significantly more than his competitors. Any striker that comes up against Liverpool tends to target his centre-back partner rather than taking him on directly.

He also stacks up better when it comes to interceptions and blocks with 1.6 and 1.4 per 90 respectively. This is yet again a lot better than the other two players, with Saliba making the least number of interceptions with 0.8 and Dias finishing last in the rankings for blocks with 0.4 per 90.

Liverpool have been a team that are slightly less stable in the midfield department, with a whole new engine room being installed into the team at Anfield. Alexis Mac Allister has done an admirable job in the defensive midfield role, but the Argentine has at times struggled to give full protection to his back line. This has left Van Dijk with more work to do in comparison to Saliba and Dias, who are well protected by Declan Rice and Rodri respectively.

Arsenal and Man City have controlled the majority of games they have been involved in as last season's top two teams rely less on their centre-backs to bail them out. This shouldn't take away from the impressive nature of Van Dijk's recovery from his poor 2022/23 campaign, but can add some context to the numbers involved.

Liverpool and Arsenal are the two teams that look best placed to rival City for the Premier League title and keeping Saliba and Van Dijk fit and firing will be vital to this charge. There is currently only one point separating all three sides, so the title race could be one for the ages.