Harry Maguire is top Premier League centre-back in three key areas | OneFootball

Harry Maguire’s form this season and whether he was worth the £80 million paid for him by Manchester United are subjects of much debate among fans, pundits and journalists.

However, a surprising stat tweeted by Statman Dave today suggests that Maguire is a lot better, and is playing a lot better, than a lot of people thought.

Maguire in fact is in the lead in three key statistics for Premier League centre backs this season, second in another and third in another.

The United skipper has made the most interceptions (37), won the most aerial duels (74) and taken the most shots (21) of all central defenders in the league.

He has also made the second highest number of passes into the final third (81) and made the third highest number of accurate long passes into the final third (78).

In fairness, Maguire has also played the joint second most minutes of all centre backs in the competition (1,620), exceeded only by West Ham’s Angelo Ogbonna (1,683).

That is quite a bit more than the top six club CBs with the second and third highest number of minutes, Arsenal’s Rob Holding (1,395) and Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma (1,350). It is the equivalent of two and a half more games.

On the negative side, Maguire has committed the second most fouls of any centre back (23), with struggling Sheffield United’s John Egan the only player to have committed more (24). Although again, the high number of minutes the United man has played must be taken into consideration.