Christian Romero of Tottenham has named Lisandro Martinez and Virgil van Dijk as the best defenders in the Premier League.
The two names mentioned by Christian Romero are one of the Premier League’s finest defenders. Virgil van Dijk has been a top and highly-revered leader at the Liverpool backline. Although Liverpool has struggled to keep clean sheets since the start of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign, van Dijk has held his position as one of Liverpool’s best defenders.
Virgil van Dijk came to limelight in 2018/19 football season after joining the Reds from Southampton. Van Dijk gave shape and balance to a previously rickety Liverpool defense after arriving from the saints. He dominated the headlines when Liverpool kept 11 clean sheets in 18 matches in the 2018/19 football season.
This season, the Reds conceded two goals against Fulham in their Premier League opener. They also conceded at home against Crystal Palace. While against Manchester United, Liverpool conceded twice. Despite a poor run of results by the Reds, Christian Romero still contends that the former Southampton player remains Premier League’s best defender.
Romeo also added Manchester United’s new signing from Ajax, Lisandro Martinez to his list of best defenders in the league. After heavy criticism by fans and pundits in the Manchester United clash against Brentford, Martinez appears to have rewritten the narrative.
Recall that Manchester United suffered a shock 4-0 defeat to Brentford with Martinez at the center of the defense. This raised questions over Martinez’s likelihood of establishing his authority in the Premier League as he did in the Dutch Eredivisie.
The former Ajax star rewrote the narrative in the game against Liverpool on Premier League matchday seven. Martinez stopped Liverpool’s deadly forward Salah from making headway through United’s backline.
Although Salah finally secured a consolation header, Martinez was adjudged the man of the match due to his excellent performance. Martinez was again awarded the man of the match in the game against Southampton. He also helped Man United keep a clean sheet against Leicester City and was instrumental to Manchester United’s 3-1 win over Arsenal.
Speaking with Sky Sport, Christian Romero hailed Virgil van Dijk as the Premier League’s greatest defender currently, describing him as a ‘top’ player. Romeo added Lisandro Martinez, a fellow Argentine, to the list, saying, ‘they are the best in the Premier League.’
“Today, the best defender for me is Virgil van Dijk, always, and Lisandro Martinez from Manchester United,” he told Sky Sports. “For me, they are the best in the Premier League.”
Both van Dijk and Lisandro Martinez are top defenders, given their exploits with their respective clubs. Lisandro Martinez has defied pundits to tower high in Manchester United’s backline. He has earned a first-team position over Harry Maguire under coach Erik Ten Hag.
However, Virgil van Dijk’s inclusion on Romero’s list of best defenders in the Premier League is slightly debatable given the performance of Liverpool in the league so far this season.
