Best Defensive players by Season Rating in Premiership

The best defensive players in Premiership, ranked on Field Insider.

Best defensive goalkeepers in Premiership Best defensive defenders in Premiership Best defensive midfielders in Premiership Best defensive attackers in Premiership Best players in Premiership Most in-form players in Premiership

At a glance

M. Moore of Rangers is the standout for raw talent across players in Premiership, with a Field Insider Rating of 55.3, and C. Ward has been the form player this season, grading 65.8, and Tawanda Jethro Maswanhise leads the scoring with 17 goals.

The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: A. Schwolow has improved his Season rating most, up +48.9 on last season, while K. Bilalovic's scouting Rating has risen fastest, +20.1 over the same span. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.

By our market-value index, N. Raskin of Rangers is the most valuable name in this group at 19.8.

Aberdeen · 24/25→25/26

Most improved

A. Schwolow+48.9SsN

Heart Of Midlothian · 24/25→25/26

Top scorer

Tawanda Jethro Maswanhise17goals

50 players · ranked by best defendersCustomise →

	Player	Team
1	P. McGinn Centre-back	Motherwell	35	52.1	521057.8%	1868.2%
2	W. Ferry Defensive midfielder	Dundee Utd	25	51	5128.5%	506.2%
3	M. Emmanuel Full-back	Motherwell	25	47.9	481160.5%	5123.3%
4	C. Halkett Centre-back	Heart Of Midlothian	31	47.2	47191.4%	273.1%
5	S. Findlay Full-back	Heart Of Midlothian	30	47	47356.3%	3310.9%
6	S. Welsh Centre-back	Motherwell	26	42.6	43267.2%	4313.5%
7	Luca Stephenson Defensive midfielder	Dundee Utd	22	41	4131%	52±0%
8	M. Steinwender Full-back	Heart Of Midlothian	26	39.8	4048%	4336%
9	L. Scales Centre-back	Celtic	27	39.6	405.9%	4312.2%
10	S. O'Donnell Full-back	Motherwell	34	39	39113.1%	1622.2%
11	M. Freckleton Full-back	ST Mirren	23	38.6	39112.1%	5051.4%
12	J. Milne Full-back	Aberdeen	23	36.2	36782.9%	4922.3%
13	J. Iredale Full-back	Hibernian	30	35.7	3626.1%	2918.2%
14	K. Tierney Full-back	Celtic	29	35.5	36624.5%	3539.7%
15	F. Lissah Full-back	Falkirk	21	34.1	34	49
16	K. Keresztes Full-back	Dundee Utd	26	33.6	34	43
17	I. Iovu Full-back	Dundee Utd	24	32.6	33	46
18	R. Deas Centre-back	Kilmarnock	26	32.1	326.3%	434.5%
19	V. Ševelj Defensive midfielder	Dundee Utd	25	31.9	3238.7%	4510.7%
20	J. Tavernier Full-back	Rangers	34	31.7	3229.6%	1732.6%
21	E. Fernandez Centre-back	Rangers	24	31.5	32156.1%	506.8%
22	L. Graham Centre-back	Dundee	22	31	311247.8%	4930.7%
23	M. Fraser Full-back	ST Mirren	32	29.7	301.7%	2133.9%
24	N. Djiga Centre-back	Rangers	23	29.6	309766.7%	4829.4%
25	A. Gogić Centre-back	ST Mirren	32	29.5	3017.5%	2226.3%
26	J. Koutroumbis Centre-back	Motherwell	28	29.4	29525.5%	325.3%
27	L. Henderson Centre-back	Falkirk	29	29	29	34
28	W. O'Hora Full-back	Hibernian	27	28.7	2910%	3917.1%
29	R. Astley Centre-back	Dundee	24	28.7	2956.8%	482.1%
30	D. Thompson Full-back	Kilmarnock	26	27.6	28300%	411.2%
31	M. Knoester Centre-back	Aberdeen	27	27	27103%	379.5%
32	D. John Defensive midfielder	ST Mirren	31	26.2	26167.3%	2414.1%
33	J. Brown Full-back	Kilmarnock	28	26.1	2650.9%	359.6%
34	A. Trusty Centre-back	Celtic	27	25.9	2642.6%	3916.5%
35	K. Adams Full-back	Falkirk	24	25.5	26	45
36	G. Hanley Centre-back	Hibernian	34	24.4	24287.3%	142.2%
37	G. Shinnie Central midfielder	Aberdeen	35	24.1	2439.7%	1344.9%
38	J. Meghoma Full-back	Rangers	20	23.8	24209.1%	5215.8%
39	L. McCann Full-back	Falkirk	26	23.8	24	43
40	R. Bushiri Centre-back	Hibernian	26	23.6	2416.3%	4313%
41	T. Rommens Full-back	Rangers	23	23.5	2429.4%	4918%
42	D. Finlayson Full-back	Livingston	25	23.2	23700%	457.9%
43	J. Souttar Centre-back	Rangers	29	21.9	2225.5%	3121.2%
44	L. Mayo Centre-back	Kilmarnock	26	20.9	2141.3%	3822%
45	M. Schjønning-Larsen Full-back	Kilmarnock	25	20.1	20	45
46	N. Devlin Defensive midfielder	Aberdeen	32	19.9	2012.7%	2029.7%
47	R. Strain Defensive midfielder	Dundee Utd	29	19.1	1931.5%	2929%
48	A. Ralston Full-back	Celtic	27	19	191.6%	3521.6%
49	S. Kingsley Defensive midfielder	Heart Of Midlothian	32	18.5	19160.6%	199.1%
50	F. Kent Centre-back	Heart Of Midlothian	30	17.9	182.3%	2328.6%