Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is a ‘Rolls-Royce’, but Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes is the best centre-back in the Premier League, says Paul Merson.

Gabriel and Van Dijk have experienced contrasting starts to the season with Arsenaland Liverpool, respectively.

Arsenal top the Premier Leagueafter nine games, while the reigning champions have lost four in a row and sit seventh in the table.

Gabriel has been one of the Gunners’ best performers, while Van Dijk has struggled in a very exposed Liverpooldefence this term.

Gabriel Magalhaes vs Virgil van Dijk in 2025/26 Premier League

• Aerial duel win %: Van Dijk 78-58 Gabriel
• Clearances: Van Dijk 87-54 Gabriel
• Yellow cards: Van Dijk 1-0 Gabriel
• Blocked shots: Van Dijk 7-11 Gabriel
• Errors leading to a shot: Van Dijk 1-2 Gabriel

Liverpool’s woeful form has been attributed to their shaky defence, with Van Dijkand Ibrahima Konate looking very weak in recent games, especially in Saturday’s loss at Brentford.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have conceded only one goal from open play in the 2025/26 Premier League, with Gabriel and William Saliba’s centre-back partnership a massive reason for this.

The Arsenal centre-backs have much better protection in front of them in the form of Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi, while full-backs Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori have been excellent.

Liverpool’s midfield has been chopped and changed this season, while left-back Milos Kerkez has been poor, and there’s uncertainty over the right-back position as Jeremie Frimpong has failed to nail down a starting spot ahead of Conor Bradley or natural midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai.

This has contributed to Van Dijk and Konate being exposed in the middle. There’s been no such exposure for Saliba or Gabriel, who are helping Arsenal dominate their opponents week in, week out.

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Arsenal star Gabriel is the best centre-back in the Premier League

Gabriel has been playing at an elite level since the start of 2022/23 — notably when Saliba came into the team.

They have helped each other grow as players and both are superb when it comes to attacking and defending set-pieces, which has become another incredible strength of Arsenal’s under Mikel Arteta.

Gabriel is more dangerous than Saliba from corners and free-kicks, scoring 11 goals across all competitions since 2023/24.

Van Dijk is also a threat, but in a team with nowhere near as much nous from dead-ball situations.

The Brazilian has comfortably been better than the Reds captain this season, and Gunners legend Merson believes he’s the best in the Premier League in his position.

“We’ve been talking about him and that partnership with Saliba for the last couple of years, last couple of seasons,” Merson told Sky Sports. “He’s such a leader. He’s providing on the goals front as well.”

Merson continued: “I think he’s outstanding. I think as a centre-half, you’re asked to make sure that you get the better of the centre-forward you’re playing against, and every single game this season, him and Saliba have got the better of whoever they played against.

“Then he goes up for set plays. A lot of defenders go up for set plays and they jog up because the manager tells them to go up, and they have no intention of getting their head on it.

Gabriel Magalh?es is currently the most inform Premier League defender, with the highest rating in his last six games (7.57). ???? pic.twitter.com/qDh638gzct

— WhoScored (@WhoScored) October 27, 2025

“There are loads of players like Harry Maguire who go up and want to score a goal, but there are a lot of defenses you can go through in the league, and you can go, ‘He hasn’t scored for like five years, but he’s been up for like 300 corners’.

“He goes up to score a goal. And I think that’s another thing.

“Would he be the best player in the league in his position? He would be 100% and Van Dijk plays in that position, and for me, he’s a Rolls-Royce, but at the moment, you would say he’s number one.”

Paul Merson is right and Gabriel deserves his flowers

Merson says some questionable things at the best of times, but he’s spot on. For years, Gabriel has been in Saliba’s shadow. The Frenchman has always been rated higher but doesn’t have the same level of consistency and reliability.

It’s not even about his goals from set-pieces either. He’s a world-class defender who just happens to score goals. Just as a top team like Arsenal isn’t usually associated with being so strong from set-pieces, a physical defender like Gabriel shouldn’t be pigeonholed as a goal threat.

It’s about time he was recognised as the best centre-back in the Premier League. All it has taken is for Van Dijk to have a wobbly couple of weeks. The ‘Rolls-Royce’ is breaking down, people.

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