Best big-5 league midfielders: Moussa Dembélé stands out

Issue number 149 the Weekly Post presents the best performing midfielders of the big-5 league season. According to the exclusive CIES Football Observatory statistical approach, at the top three positions of the rankings for defensive midfielders are Arturo Vidal (Bayern), Xabi Alonso (Bayern) and Lucas Biglia (Lazio). Moussa Dembélé (Tottenham), Blaise Matuidi (Paris St-Germain) and Ilkay Gündogan (Dortmund) head the box-to-box midfielder table. The rankings for attacking midfielders will be unveiled next week.

According to the CIES Football Observatory analysis, Leicester City’s N’Golo Kanté is the best performing English Premier League defensive midfielder of the 2015/16 season. The French is the only EPL player in the top 10 positions. This figure is three at box-to-box midfielder level: Moussa Dembélé (Tottenham, 1st), Dele Alli (Tottenham, 4th) and Yaya Touré (Manchester City, 5th). Paul Pogba (Juventus) ranks 6th. Only footballers who played at least 60% of domestic league minutes are included.

The youngest players in the top 10 lists are Julian Weigl (Dortmund) among defensive midfielders and Dele Alli among box-to-box ones. Both players are only aged 20. The list also features 21-year-old Saúl Ñíguez. Atlético Madrid’s rising star ranks third among box-to-box midfielders of the Spanish Liga behind two great champions: World Cup winners Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) and Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona).