Best defensive central midfielders

The best defensive central midfielders, ranked on Field Insider.

At a glance

E. Anderson of Nottingham Forest is the standout for raw talent across central midfielders, with a Field Insider Rating of 94.8, and C. Baumgartner has been the form player this season, grading 78, and T. Allende leads the scoring with 20 goals.

The numbers a scout watches are the year-on-year jumps: Q. Laçi has improved his Season rating most, up +54.4 on last season, while T. Almada's scouting Rating has risen fastest, +36.8 over the same span. Those are the players whose trajectory is bending upward fastest.

By our market-value index, E. Anderson of Nottingham Forest is the most valuable name in this group at 189.6.

Atletico Madrid · 24/25→25/26

Most improved

Q. Laçi+54.4SsN

Rizespor · 22/23→25/26

50 players · ranked by most clean sheetsCustomise →

#	Player	Team	Age	CS	Season	Rating
1	Victor Mow Froholdt Central midfielder	FC Porto	20	20	5645%	7959%
2	Miguel Atienza Central midfielder	Burgos	27	18	4841.5%	589.5%
3	N. Sansotre Central midfielder	Deportivo Riestra	32	17	3440.4%	2624.3%
4	Iván Morante Central midfielder	Burgos	25	17	4299.1%	679.5%
5	R. Woods Central midfielder	Oldham	32	17	2615.9%	1831.8%
6	Martín Zubimendi Central midfielder	Arsenal	27	17	5312.9%	801.8%
7	D. Rice Central midfielder	Arsenal	27	17	605.9%	8410.7%
8	R. Carrascal Central midfielder	America de Cali	33	16	28	11
9	C. Mafla Central midfielder	Santa Fe	33	16	25324.1%	1156.7%
10	H. White Central midfielder	Stevenage	24	16	3946.4%	5210.2%
11	O. Pineda Central midfielder	AEK Athens FC	30	16	45129.9%	27±0%
12	A. Lescano Central midfielder	Argentinos JRS	24	16	5014.1%	601.5%
13	M. Céliz Central midfielder	Deportivo Riestra	33	16	40447.9%	2219.7%
14	A. Varela Central midfielder	FC Porto	25	16	3113.3%	632%
15	T. Pett Central midfielder	Oldham	34	16	34719.5%	1230.9%
16	D. Matsuoka Central midfielder	Avispa Fukuoka	25	15	304.7%	531.3%
17	I. Doumbia Central midfielder	Venezia	22	15	49504.9%	7813.7%
18	J. Goitía Central midfielder	Deportivo Riestra	31	15	3644.1%	2728.6%
19	L. Gil Central midfielder	Huracan	35	15	37258.3%	1949.5%
20	G. Busio Central midfielder	Venezia	24	15	5474.8%	76±0%
21	David González Central midfielder	Burgos	24	15	59286.9%	7317.9%
22	D. Torres Central midfielder	Santa Fe	36	14	1956.7%	969.4%
23	K. Londoño Central midfielder	Bucaramanga	32	14	23	13
24	S. El-Faouzi Central midfielder	FC Schalke 04	24	14	5376.2%	7257.5%
25	D. Kemp Central midfielder	Stevenage	27	14	316.1%	4310.9%
26	Tom Iorpenda Central midfielder	Notts County	21	14	399625%	384.5%
27	G. Calò Central midfielder	Frosinone	29	14	63164.4%	531%
28	K. Coman Central midfielder	Al-Nassr	30	14	59101.7%	3931.3%
29	R. Marin Central midfielder	AEK Athens FC	30	14	4284.6%	2749.9%
30	T. Hernández Central midfielder	Al-Hilal Saudi FC	28	14	418.5%	4638.2%
31	M. Brozović Central midfielder	Al-Nassr	33	14	3322.7%	2423.6%
32	F. Fattori Central midfielder	Argentinos JRS	33	14	31±0%	2112.7%
33	A. Kyziridis Central midfielder	Heart Of Midlothian	25	14	38	53
34	A. Hainaut Central midfielder	Venezia	24	14	53166.8%	743.2%
35	F. Dimarco Central midfielder	Inter	28	14	7394.9%	709%
36	J. Brophy Central midfielder	Cambridge United	31	14	2929.3%	1837.5%
37	P. Ramírez Central midfielder	Deportivo Riestra	26	13	3346.8%	4517.2%
38	F. Chaverra Central midfielder	Independiente Medellin	26	13	28	27
39	D. Moreno Central midfielder	Junior	34	13	29	9
40	E. Mena Central midfielder	Independiente Medellin	28	13	23	21
41	K. Kairinen Central midfielder	Sparta Praha	27	13	2527.3%	296.1%
42	J. Mišić Central midfielder	Dinamo Zagreb	32	13	39	19
43	B. Karadeniz Central midfielder	Pendikspor	27	13	43	42
44	R. Schallenberg Central midfielder	FC Schalke 04	27	13	3627%	564.1%
45	J. Lukić Central midfielder	Philadelphia Union	24	13	42	453.2%
46	P. Kammerbauer Central midfielder	VfL Osnabrück	29	13	234.6%	3018.1%
47	K. Yasui Central midfielder	Urawa	26	13	3439.1%	50±0%
48	Y. Arai Central midfielder	Tokyo Verdy	23	13	344137.5%	5216.7%
49	K. Saito Central midfielder	Tokyo Verdy	29	13	323%	3423.9%
50	K. Morita Central midfielder	Tokyo Verdy	25	13	3012.9%	499.1%