Aerial play: van Dijk tops the world rankings

The 447th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 centre backs in the world with the best aerial play statistics* according to an index computed from the number of aerial duels won, in relation to the playing time and the frequency of aerial duels at employer team level, the percentage of aerial duels won and the sporting level of the matches played.

Liverpool’s Dutchman Virgil van Dijk is ahead of Bayern Munich’s South Korean Min-jae Kim.

Now reconverted from defensive midfielder to centre back, Paris St-Germain’s Portuguese Danilo Pereira rounds off the podium, ahead of two other players active in the five major European leagues: England’s Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle United) and France’s Dan-Axel Zagadou (Stuttgart).

Argentina’s Bruno Duarte (Panatelikos) is the highest-ranked player from outside the big-5, while Joaquim Henrique (Santos) tops the table for outside Europe’s centre backs.

Cerro Porteño’s Paraguayan Lucas Quintana is the youngest player in the top 100 (19.0 years of age, 95th), ahead of Westerlo’s, on loan from Galatasaray, Turkish Emin Bayram (20.8 years, 21st) and Chornomorets’ Ukrainian Volodymyr Salyuk (21.6 years, 42nd).

By contrast, the three oldest centre backs in the top 100 are Sevilla’s Sergio Ramos (37.8 years, seventh), Racing Santander’s Germán Sánchez (37.1 years, 63rd) and Deportivo Saprissa’s Kendall Waston (36.0 years, 64th).

* Wyscout statistics refer to domestic league matches in the current season or the last completed one for summer leagues. Only footballers who have played at least 900’ are included in the rankings.

>>> Go to the top 100

About the CIES Football Observatory

The CIES Football Observatory is a research group created in 2005 within the Swiss-based Centre International d’Étude du Sport (CIES). It specialises in the statistical analysis of football, in particular in the areas of demographics, transfer values and performance.

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About the CIES

The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) is an independent study centre located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It was created in 1995 as a joint venture between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the University of Neuchâtel, the City and State of Neuchatel.

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