The best defender in Europe is not Virgil van Dijk according to one key study

Virgil van Dijk is not the best defender in Europe, according to a recent study from CIES Football Observatory. The study - which uses data supplied by OptaPro - gives players a mark out of 99 based on their pitch production and efficiency both individually and collectively. Van Dijk’s score is 90.5, however, he is behind Bayern Munich’s Niklas Sule who has 92.1 scores. Manchester City player Aymeric Laporte is third.

1. Niklas Süle-92.1(FC Bayern München)
2. Virgil van Dijk-90.5(Liverpool FC)
3. Aymeric Laporte-89.7(Manchester City FC)
4. Jonathan Tah-87.1(Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
5. Sven Bender-87.0(Bayer 04 Leverkusen)
6. Mats Hummels-86.9(BV 09 Borussia Dortmund)
7. Joël Matip-86.6(Liverpool FC)
8. Marquinhos Aoás-86.4(Paris St-Germain FC)
9. Manuel Akanji-85.8(BV 09 Borussia Dortmund)
10. Gerard Piqué-84.6(FC Barcelona)
11. Milan Škriniar-82.2(Internazionale Milano FC)
12. Gianluca Mancini-81.7(AS Roma)

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