Best PL centre-back? 

John Terry or Van Dijk? Chelsea icon's two Premier League records fact-checked

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A debate raged in the English media this week over who is the best centre-back in Premier League history with one leading candidate entering the discussion. John Terry is unquestionably one of the greatest defenders ever in the Premier League and he made a strong argument as to why he deserves the crown. After Jermaine Pennant claimed that Virgil van Dijk is the best on talkSPORT, Terry responded on TikTok.

“There’s only one person who has got the most goals as a defender in Premier League history and that’s me,” said Terry. “There’s only one person who has got the most goals as a defender in Premier League history and that’s me.I love the debate, I love being amongst it, I’m really proud of what I’ve done in the Premier League.” And using Transfermarkt’s unrivalled database, we’ve analysed the numbers to attest that Terry’s two statements are factually correct.

Centre-backs with most clean sheets in Premier League history

Since the inception of the Premier League ahead of the 1992/93 campaign, Terry comfortably has more clean sheets than any other centre-back. We’ve extracted the data with the rule that any player had to play a minimum of sixty minutes to qualify for a clean sheet to avoid them being awarded for coming on late as a substitute. Incredibly, Terry had 218 clean sheets in 492 games for Chelsea in the top-flight for English football with Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher (202) and Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand (200) completing the top three. Van Dijk sits ninth but he will realistically climb into the top five during the remainder of his Liverpool contract and he’s played considerably fewer games.

Top scoring centre-backs in Premier League history

As he stated, Terry is comfortably the top-scoring centre-back in Premier League history and by some distance. The former Chelsea captain scored 41 goals for the Stamford Bridge club and his former centre-back partner ranks second. Gary Cahill scored 28 goals in 344 games across spells at four Premier League clubs – Aston Villa, Chelsea, Bolton and Crystal Palace. Van Dijk ranks third but he will realistically overtake Cahill before he calls time on his Liverpool career.