Is Matthijs De Ligt The Best Defender In England Right Now?

The claim is simple and explosive for a center back conversation in October 2025. No center back has won more defensive duels in the Premier League this season than Matthijs de Ligt, with 37 and counting. 

That number has circulated via performance tracking aggregators and social feeds built on event data from the early rounds of the campaign, and it aligns with the eye test for anyone who has watched Manchester United in the past few weeks. 

Raw league pages also show how busy and effective he has been in the core defensive actions that shape games. Official Premier League player pages list his growing pile of duels won, tackles, interceptions, and blocks, which track with that storyline even if the league site does not publish a leaderboard for the specific defensive duels category by position. 

The point stands that de Ligt’s individual duel success is elite right now, and it is not a narrative created out of thin air.  The context matters. De Ligt arrived with a heavyweight reputation and then had a mixed twelve months across two clubs before this season clicked. 

The Analyst’s player log shows consistent ninety-minute outings in recent weeks that have allowed rhythm and repetition to take hold. Form for defenders is often a product of continuity. United finally looks like a team that lets him defend facing the play rather than in constant retreat. 

What De Ligt Is Doing So Well For Manchester United

Manchester United’s 2–1 win over Liverpool at Anfield on October 19 did not just provide a cathartic result. It showed the version of De Ligt that United thought they were buying. 

He defended the box with conviction, stepped into duels at the right moments, and communicated through the back line alongside Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw. Multiple match reports highlighted the authority of United’s center backs in a game Liverpool dominated for stretches. A defender cannot post the league’s best duel count by diving in recklessly. Timing and angles are the difference. 

Manager Ruben Amorim’s structure is clarifying the picture. The wide players track just enough to protect fullbacks. Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes screen and squeeze the middle third. 

That compression keeps de Ligt within an aggressive yet controlled distance to challenge first balls and win second contacts. Set pieces have also benefited from his presence as a blocker and primary aerial target defender. The overall pattern reveals a center back who is winning his first duel more often than not and recovering quickly into line for the next action. 

The technique behind those numbers is not complicated, yet it is rare at speed. De Ligt sets his feet early, shows the attacker to his weaker side, and attacks through the ball rather than through the man. His upper body strength allows him to make contact without surrendering position. 

When he cannot win cleanly, he delays and waits for help from Shaw on the cover or from a dropping midfielder. This is what elite duel winning actually looks like. It is calm, repeatable, and boring in the best possible way.

Where He Stands Among Premier League Center Backs

The league is stacked with high-level central defenders. Virgil van Dijk remains Liverpool’s reference point. Gabriel and William Saliba anchor Arsenal’s possession machine. Ruben Dias continues to be a problem solver for Manchester City. Sven Botman is the bedrock for Newcastle when fit. Micky van de Ven brings a recovery pace that few can match for Tottenham.

De Ligt’s case for best in the division does not rely on noise around one number. It rests on how his individual dominance is translating to game state control for United and how he is handling different matchup types every week. 

The duel stat is a gateway, not a trophy. It suggests that when opponents try to play through United’s right and central channels, they are finding a roadblock. Yahoo’s roundup on his league-leading duel numbers earlier in the season captured that trend before it was fashionable. 

The more recent social recaps echo the same shape of the performance data, and Premier League tracking of duels won backs up that he is winning a lot of them, even if the official site slices the categories differently. Combine that with the Anfield sample, and the argument gets sturdy. 

Availability boosts credibility. The Analyst’s log of consecutive starts matters because the best center back in a season cannot just be brilliant in moments. He has to be present every week to keep the defensive line coherent. United’s defensive ceiling rises when the same trio repeats, and that has been happening more often over the last month. 

The Netherlands Angle And The World Cup Question

One of the more surprising subplots is international selection. Ronald Koeman omitted de Ligt from the most recent Netherlands squad, a decision that raised eyebrows given his club surge. The reporting around that call made clear it was a choice rather than an injury-driven absence. 

Coaches make tactical bets, and the Dutch pool is deep with Van Dijk, Nathan Ake, Stefan de Vrij, Sven Botman, and Micky van de Ven all in the frame. International football can lag club form by a window or two. If de Ligt sustains this level through the winter, the pressure to restore him to Oranje will mount. 

The World Cup conversation is simple. A center back posting top-tier duel numbers in the Premier League while delivering in statement fixtures will be impossible to ignore when provisional lists come out. 

Selection politics aside, performance usually wins. Keep the body of work consistent through spring, and the place in the summer roster follows. That is how international football tends to work for defenders.

S,o Is He The Best Right Now

The only honest answer today is that Matthijs de Ligt has a legitimate claim to being the Premier League’s form center back. He owns the league’s leading defensive duel tally for his position, he just anchored a landmark United win at Anfield under a coach whose structure suits him, and he is stacking 90-minute blocks that sharpen chemistry with his partners. 

That is the profile of a defender who can finish a season with individual honors and who should be central to any Netherlands plan going into the next tournament cycle. 

The tag of absolute best is a moving target in a league with Saliba’s control, Van Dijk’s presence, and Ake’s versatility, yet de Ligt’s two-way impact places him in the front row of that debate right now. Maintain the dual dominance while nudging United’s team metrics up another notch, and the argument will need fewer qualifiers.