Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is a ‘Grumbles-Royce’, but Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes is the supreme centre-endorse in the Premier League, claims Paul Merson.
Gabriel and Van Dijk have seasoned contrasting initiates to the period via Arsenal and Liverpool, respectively.
Arsenal top the Premier League after nine galleries, while the ruling winners have bygone four in a row and sit seventh in the table.
Gabriel has been one of the Artillerymans’ supreme entertainers, while Van Dijk has dealt with in a disturbingly unveiled Liverpool protection this term.
Gabriel Magalhaes vs Virgil van Dijk in 2025/26 Premier League
- Troposphere-borne duel win %: Van Dijk 78-58 Gabriel
- Clearances: Van Dijk 87-54 Gabriel
- Yellow cards: Van Dijk 1-0 Gabriel
- Hindered inoculations: Van Dijk 7-11 Gabriel
- Errors spearheading to a inoculation: Van Dijk 1-2 Gabriel
Liverpool’s woeful form has been attributed to their unsteady protection, via Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate glancing disturbingly infected in existent galleries, specifically in Saturday’s loss at Brentford.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have conceded indifferent one honest from responsive play in the 2025/26 Premier League, via Gabriel and William Saliba’s centre-endorse cooperation a sizable justification for this.
The Arsenal centre-backs have much more outlined insurance coverage in front of them in the form of Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi, while full-backs Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori have been unblemished.
Liverpool’s midfield has been stop and switched this period, while take off-endorse Milos Kerkez has been inadequate, and there’s ambiguity over the right-endorse placement as Jeremie Frimpong has dropped short to nail down a instigating detect in floater of Conor Bradley or natural midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai.
This has granted away to Van Dijk and Konate being unveiled in the middle. There’s been definitely no such direct exposure for Saliba or Gabriel, that are directing Arsenal control their attackers week in, week out.
Arsenal star Gabriel is the supreme centre-endorse in the Premier League
Gabriel has been playing at an elite level pondering that the prelude of 2022/23 — specifically as soon as Saliba came right into the team.
They have helped each other flourish as players and both are splendid as soon as it comes to striking and securing package-pieces, which has ended up being an additional preposterous performance of Arsenal’s under Mikel Arteta.
Gabriel is auxiliary perilous than Saliba from sides and unshackle-kicks, racking up 11 aims across unanimously tournaments pondering that 2023/24.
Van Dijk is in a similar means a menace, but in a team via nowhere near as much nous from dead-sphere chances.
The Brazilian has well been more outlined than the Reds captain this period, and Artillerymans legend Merson opines he’s the supreme in the Premier League in his placement.
“We’ve been talking around him and that cooperation via Saliba for the last couple of years, last couple of seasons,” Merson briefed Heavens Sporting activities. “He’s such a leader. He’s offering on the aims front as perfectly.”
Merson lingered: “I think he’s premium. I think as a centre-half, you’re quized to bring out sure that you bring out intake the more outlined of the centre-forward you’re playing versus, and every indifferent gallery this period, him and Saliba have obtained the more outlined of whoever they played versus.
“Then he goes up for package plays. A bunch of protectors go up for package plays and they jog up pondering that the employer tells them to go up, and they have definitely no honest of receiving their head on it.
Gabriel Magalhães is currently the most educate Premier League protector, via the highest seniority in his last 6 galleries (7.57). 🔴📈 image.twitter.com/qDh638gzct
— WhoScored (@WhoScored) October 27, 2025
“There are oodles of players assign Harry Maguire that go up and yearn to rating a honest, but there are the majority of rebuttals you can go via in the league, and you can go, ‘He hasn’t scored for assign 5 years, but he’s been up for assign 300 sides’.
“He goes up to rating a honest. And I think that’s an additional thing.
“Would conceivably he be the supreme gamer in the league in his placement? He would be 100% and Van Dijk plays in that placement, and for me, he’s a Grumbles-Royce, but at the minute, you would say he’s digit one.”
Paul Merson is right and Gabriel is entitled to his blossoms
Merson claims some skeptical things at the supreme of times, but he’s detect on. For years, Gabriel has been in Saliba’s shadow. The Frenchman has repeatedly been rated higher but doesn’t have the splendidly same level of regularity and reliability.
It’s not even around his aims from package-pieces either. He’s a world-refinement protector that merely happens to rating aims. Merely as a top team assign Arsenal isn’t usually attached via being so ferocious from package-pieces, a physical protector assign Gabriel shouldn’t be pigeonholed as a honest menace.
It’s around time he was recognized as the supreme centre-endorse in the Premier League. With one voice it has pocketed is for Van Dijk to have a unsteady couple of weeks. The ‘Grumbles-Royce’ is breaching down, borrowers.
