Premier League Gameweek 8 Defensive Stats: Most Tackles, Interceptions, Clearances, Aerial Duels Won & More

A series of potentially season-shaping performances dominated Gameweek 8 in the Premier League, with plenty of eye-catching results across the division.

Saturday's action started with Aston Villa beating table-toppers Manchester City 2-1 in the lunchtime kick-off – allowing Arsenal to draw level on points with the Citizens, courtesy of a 2-0 home win against Everton later that afternoon.

And that wasn’t the only important victory at 3pm, as Fulham made it back-to-back wins at Coventry City (1-0) to ease the pressure on manager Álvaro Arbeloa.

Talking of clubs on the up, Tottenham Hotspur secured a statement result against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge (2-0), rounding off a six-point week for the North London outfit.

But the trajectory seems to be heading in the opposite direction at Manchester United, following a 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth that leaves the club in 16th place and raises serious questions over Michael Carrick’s future.

Pierre Sage is under similar scrutiny, too, after Crystal Palace lost for the third time in five league matches at home to Newcastle United (0-2) on Sunday.

All of the above means that managerial futures could dominate the headlines over the coming days.

As such, some first-class defensive displays may be overlooked, with a significant eight teams keeping clean sheets in their respective matches.

Fortunately, we’ve dug into the data to highlight all the key defensive metrics you need to know about, now that Gameweek 8 has reached its conclusion…

Premier League Most Tackles: Challenges aplenty at Villa Park and MKM Stadium

It was an afternoon of mixed fortunes for this weekend’s top tacklers, as Matty Cash (Aston Villa) and Abdukodir Khusanov (Manchester City) ended up on either side of a 2-1 home win at Villa Park.

They made eight tackles apiece, which is one more than James McAtee (Nottingham Forest) and James Hill (Bournemouth) who were level in second place.

Boubacar Kamara (Aston Villa) was one of four players just behind on six tackles each, reflecting the dogged performance Unai Emery’s team put in on Saturday.

There was also plenty of endeavour in Hull City’s 1-1 draw with Brentford – so much so that the other three players on six tackles featured in that match.

Semi Ajayi (Hull City), Elliot Stroud (Hull City) and Mamadou Sangaré (Brentford) all made their mark in a combative clash, as the points were shared at the MKM Stadium.

And honourable mentions should go to Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Daniel Muñoz (Nottingham Forest), Mateus Fernandes (Tottenham Hotspur) and Harrison Armstrong (Everton), with each of the quartet making a credible five tackles during Gameweek 8.

Premier League Most Interceptions: Mixed display from Forest’s Milenković at Ipswich

Nikola Milenković registered five interceptions during Friday night’s 1-1 draw between Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest – and no player was able to match his tally over the rest of the weekend.

However, the Serbian endured a mixed evening at Portman Road, after his underhit backpass led to Julio Enciso’s 41st-minute equaliser for the Tractor Boys.

Six Premier League stars (all on four interceptions) came close to cutting out the same number of passes as Milenković, including two of Bournemouth’s starting line-up in Rayan and Hill.

The duo got their just rewards as the Cherries scored three without reply at Old Trafford, but the same can’t be said for Axel Disasi (Crystal Palace), Ethan Pinnock (Coventry City) and Moisés Caicedo (Chelsea), who all ended up on the losing side during this round of fixtures.

Brentford’s Michael Kayode completes the list, with the Bees currently sitting in sixth on 11 points after their 1-1 draw at Hull City.

Sixteen players are then tied on three interceptions each, including yet another entrant from Bournemouth in Justin Kluivert.

Premier League Most Clearances: O'Nien at the heart of Sunderland’s resilient rearguard

Sunderland’s Luke O'Nien was some way ahead of the rest of the pack when it came to clearances completed during Gameweek 8.

He cleared the ball a sky-high 14 times in the 0-0 home draw with Leeds United on Sunday, earning a well-deserved clean sheet as a result.

Jake O'Brien (Everton) was next on the list with 11 clearances, after he was called into action on plenty of occasions during the 2-0 defeat to reigning champions Arsenal.

Below him were a trio of players that also reached double figures (10), including another inclusion from the aforementioned match at the Stadium of Light – Leeds United centre-back Tarik Muharemović.

Level with the Bosnian defender were Fabian Schär (Newcastle United) and Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), both of whom registered shut-outs and claimed all three points against Crystal Palace and Brighton, respectively.

Premier League Most Aerial Duels Won: Van Hecke and Thiago command both boxes

There is a healthy mix of attacking and defensive players near the summit of the aerial duels won chart.

That’s encapsulated by top spot, which is held jointly by Jan Paul van Hecke (Tottenham Hotspur) and Igor Thiago (Brentford) with eight successful aerial duels each.

They operate at opposite ends of the pitch, of course, but both had significant impacts during Gameweek 8.

Van Hecke helped Tottenham to an impressive win and a clean sheet at Chelsea, while Thiago assisted Dango Ouattara in the 1-1 draw at Hull City.

Fellow forward-thinking operators Joelinton (Newcastle United) and Thierno Barry (Everton) registered seven and six successful aerial duels, respectively, with a further five players behind them on five each.

Of those five, Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) is something of a positional outlier, next to defenders Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Lucas Herrington (Hull City) and Van Dijk (Liverpool).

Premier League Most Defensive Third Regains: Garner and Khalaili go unrewarded for their efforts

James Garner continues to perform strongly for Everton this season, despite the Toffees only winning one of their previous seven league outings.

This was reflected in his all-action display at the Emirates Stadium, which yielded six defensive third regains in the 2-0 loss to Arsenal.

Crystal Palace wide man Anan Khalaili managed the same number for another of the division’s off-colour teams, though it did little to lift the Eagles during a drab game at Selhurst Park.

António Silva (Bournemouth) enjoyed more success on Sunday, though, and can be content with five regains in the defensive third as his team dominated Manchester United all across the pitch.

Oliver Glasner’s hard-working Nottingham Forest side included two players who matched that figure – James McAtee and Murillo – as did Levi Colwill (Chelsea) and Luka Vušković (Brighton).

Vušković, in particular, will be disappointed that the Seagulls couldn’t continue their sensational start to the season, after Liverpool ended their four-game winning run in the Premier League at Anfield.