Defending is an art, not everyone is capable of making the right tackle to deny an opponent from scoring. Everyone does talk more about goal scoring but sometimes there really is nothing better than watching a defender at the top of his game, shutting out his opposition and ensuring his team is stable at the back.
The Premier League might be one of the most electric league’s in the world with some rather mad dash games, but there still are quite a few defenders who love defending and play a proper tough game of football. We look at the 3 right backs in the Premier League with stats courtesy of whoscored.com.
Pablo Zabaleta
The Manchester City and Argentina right back has been tremendous since he has signed for the Citizens, probably one of the best right backs in the world, if not the best. He provides City with a great option going in front but does a brilliant job for them in defence as well. He averages 4 tackles per game in the league, which is the highest for any defender and no wonder Manchester City want to keep hold of the brilliant Argentine for a few more years, he also averages close to 3 clearances per game.
Martin Kelly
This surely came a surprise to me when I was checking out the stats for the season but the ex-Liverpool defender and current Crystal Palace right-back is close to the top of the pile in terms of tackles and clearances, in fact he provides 4.7 clearances per game which is an outstanding statistic. He also averages 3.3 tackles per game and while many thought his career might have taken a downturn as he left Liverpool, if he continues to do this well for Crystal Palace, he could be getting an England call pretty soon.
Nathaniel Clyne
The Southampton star made his England performance count against Italy, although he wasn’t at his best he still does have a bright future. The right back is second in the list of defenders with 3.5 tackles per game and also managers to put in 2.3 clearances per game. He has a penchant to attack and defend well and is a sure shot to be signed by a bigger club unless the Saints can ensure some European football, he still is 23 years old and can easily become one of the best defenders in England and play for the team for years.
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