5 midfielders with the best ball-carrying ability in the Premier League right now
The Premier League is the epicenter of intense battles where some of the best clubs on the planet clash against each other every week. Home to world-class players, the English top-flight has no shortage of excitement or suspense when it comes to providing football matches of the highest order.
There are several positions of importance on the football field, but midfielders usually have to show the greatest versatility. This is because they usually operate between the attackers and the defenders, although there have been exceptions to this rule in modern times.
Therefore, midfielders have to carry out a number of different roles on the pitch, based on the manager's tactics and the overall style of the play. But ball-carrying is extremely important for midfielders in the Premier League.
Given that they are the link between the attackers and the defenders, carrying the ball and moving it up the pitch is a fundamental duty of a midfielder. Otherwise, defenders have to risk moving forward and getting exposed, and attackers will not be able to get chances to convert.
The Premier League has some true world-class midfielders who exhibit exceptional ability to carry the ball and move it forward. The following list of midfielders leads the rest of the Premier League on parameters like carries/90 and total distance carried. These are some of the dedicated attributes to measure the ball-carrying ability.
#5 Jordan Henderson | Liverpool
The Liverpool captain has gone on from being just another Premier League signing to becoming one of the most decorated players in the club's history.
Signed from Sunderland, Jordan Henderson has become a formidable player in Liverpool's lineup. It's no surprise that the Anfield faithful so deeply love him.
The English midfielder was an important member of the Liverpool side that finally won their first Premier League title in nearly three decades. Henderson also helped the Reds add a Champions League title in 2019.
🚨 NEW: Micah Richards believes Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang should look to Liverpool pair Jordan Henderson and James Milner for examples of strong leadership.
“People say they aren’t world class and are boring but nothing could be further from the truth.” #awlive [mail] https://t.co/pTs8TCV54N
As a player, Henderson is a typical no-nonsense midfielder renowned for his tenacity and endurance in the Premier League. He excels as a ball carrier with 60.2 carries per 90 and 268.7m total distance per 90. Additionally, Henderson has a progressive distance coverage per 90 of 118.7m, and his total carried distance stands at 3654m.
#4 Rodri Hernandez | Manchester City
Rodri Hernandez, or simply Rodri, has truly evolved as the natural successor to Fernandinho for Manchester City.
The Spaniard joined the Premier League from Atletico Madrid and took some time to settle down. But Rodri has now established himself as an important cog in Pep Guardiola's system at the Etihad. He is extremely tenacious and has an excellent defensive work rate with tremendous intercepting and tackling ability.
Rodri Hernandez this season is one of the best Defensive midfielder he is one of the main man in Pep's Manchester city squad
Lets have a look at his stats in numbers
20games
11 clean sheets
93 touches per game
94% passing accuracy per game ,75 passes per game . https://t.co/zS8peLs0m5
But Rodri is not only about his defensive abilities as the midfielder is one of the best ball-progressors in the Premier League. The midfielder accumulates 65.8 carries per 90 and has a total carried distance of 4103m.
Moreover, he covers a progressive distance per 90 of 130.2m and a total distance per 90 of 268.7m. This puts him at fourth position among all current Premier League midfielders.