Matheus Nunes (Man City): Nunes enjoyed a superb season at full-back, starting more games (32) and playing more minutes (2,865) than in his first two seasons at the club combined (26 starts, 2,327 minutes). <\/p>\n
City were far better off with him in the starting XI – they won 66% (W21 D8 L3) of the games he started, compared to 33% without him (W2 D1 L3).<\/p>\n
Nunes completed more passes in the opposition half than any other player this season (1,153) while among full-backs he had the joint most open play assists (5), made the most line-breaking passes overall (275), as well as completing the most passes in the final third (600). He was also the full-back with the most ball carries (514) and carry distance – well over 5,000m.<\/p>\n
Gabriel (Arsenal<\/a>): One of the odder statistics of 2025-26 is that Arsenal<\/a> central defender Gabriel Magalhaes ended the season with more Premier League goals and assists combined than the likes of Jorgen Strand Larsen (5) and Bernardo Silva (6) and as many as Bournemouth<\/a> striker Evanilson (7). <\/p>\n Of his seven goal involvements (3 goals, 4 assists), six unsurprisingly came via set-pieces as the Brazilian caused chaos in opposition boxes, helping the Gunners to score a record 19 corner goals in 2025-26.<\/p>\n It is, of course, at the other end where Gabriel really stands out, ending the season with 17 clean sheets, which was more than any other defender despite being absent from eight starting XIs in 2025-26. <\/p>\n Arsenal<\/a> conceded just 20 goals in 2,751 minutes with him on the pitch, an average of one every 138 minutes, which was the best by an Arsenal<\/a> defender to play 2,000+ minutes since 2003-04, when Sol Campbell went 140 minutes between goals going in with him on the pitch. <\/p>\n William Saliba (Arsenal<\/a>): Alongside Gabriel, who else but Saliba? The pair are forging a legendary Premier League central defensive partnership, losing just 15 of the 117 games they’ve played together for Arsenal<\/a> and the Gunners concede on average a goal every 44 minutes more frequently when they aren’t playing together since 2022-23.<\/p>\n Only Gabriel kept more clean sheets (17) than Saliba (15) during the 2025-26 Premier League season, with Arsenal<\/a> conceding a goal every 131 minutes with Saliba on the pitch, the second-best of any defender this season behind\u2026 well, you guessed it, Gabriel. <\/p>\n On the ball, Saliba was accomplished, completing 92.9% of his passes, the third-best of any player to attempt 2,000 or more. He completed 67 passes per 90 minutes; on record since 2003-04, the only Arsenal<\/a> defender with more in a season is Saliba in 2023-24 (69) and 2024-25 (71).<\/p>\n Adrien Truffert (Bournemouth<\/a>): The sight of Truffert flying down the left-hand side of Bournemouth<\/a>‘s flank is well known to Cherries fans and it is borne out in the data – the Frenchman was the only player to make more than 50 overlapping runs in the Premier League in 2025-26. It wasn’t just on the outside either – he ranked in the top-five for underlapping runs, too.<\/p>\n Truffert was one of only three players to win possession in the defensive third 100+ times (105), while he was top for both interceptions (48) and for tackles (103) among full-backs. <\/p>\n He also made the most progressive ball carries of any full-back (279) and progressed the ball close to two miles upfield with ball carries, the second-most of any full-back.<\/p>\n