Premier League Matchweek 5 defensive stats: Most tackles, interceptions, clearances and more

In the final round of Premier League fixtures before the new, longer international break, there were some eye-catching defensive performances around the division.

Here, we run through the standout individuals in various key defensive metrics in Matchweek 5…

Premier League most tackles: Buendia battles hard to help Villa to victory

Aston Villa had to dig in to hold on for a 3-2 win at Tottenham having cruised into a 3-0 lead, and Emiliano Buendia certainly got stuck in.

The attacking midfielder, who was also on the scoresheet as Villa notched their first league victory of the season, attempted more tackles than any other player in the top flight this weekend with seven.

Buendia was followed in that regard by three players on six – including defeated Spurs midfield duo Rodrigo Bentancur and Sandro Tonali.

Premier League most interceptions: Fofana tries his best as Chelsea humbled

Chelsea suffered their first defeat of the campaign, losing 3-0 away to West London rivals Brentford on Friday night – and it might have been worse if not for the contributions of Wesly Fofana, who cut out six passes.

One behind on five interceptions was Villa’s Matteo Ruggero, with two of the players who made five interceptions also coming out on the winning side: James Tarkowski of Everton (won 1-0 vs Ipswich) and Brandton Thomas-Asante of Coventry (won 1-0 vs Nottingham Forest).

Premier League most clearances: Botman does it again

Having a clear-out? Get Sven Botman on the case! For the second Matchweek running, the Newcastle centre-back topped the Premier League for clearances – making 14 of them, just as he did the previous weekend.

However, on this occasion, Botman was on the winning side, helping the Magpies edge Hull 2-1 as they bounced back from a 4-1 loss to Leeds.

The three players tied for second on 12 clearances – also centre-backs – all had victories to celebrate too, Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, Coventry’s Ethan Pinnock and Brentford’s Jannik Schuster getting the ball away from danger en route to clean sheets against Bournemouth, Forest and Chelsea respectively.

Premier League most aerial duels won: Pinnock lives up to his towering reputation

Pinnock arrived at Coventry renowned for his aerial prowess, and he demonstrated that very facet of his game to great effect as the Sky Blues picked up their first points since returning to the top flight.

The former Brentford man – 10 of whose 12 clearances came with his head – was one of five players to win six aerial duels in Matchweek 5 – and he only lost three.

Of the five players who took the ball from six aerial duels, Liverpool’s Ronald Araujo – playing at right-back – had the highest success rate with 86% (6/7).

*Striker (all other players are defenders)

Premier League most defensive third regains: Mykolenko and Ruggeri among those making crucial recoveries

Four players took back possession of the ball in their own final third this weekend – though only two of them did so in wins: Vitalii Mykolenko for Everton against Ipswich and Matteo Ruggeri for Villa against Spurs.

But the most intriguing player ranking highly in this category is Leeds’s James Trafford, who displayed his strength as a sweeper-keeper with six defensive third regains – as many as all-action Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister.

Top FPL defenders in Matchweek 5: Dasilva takes gold

Coventry’s Jay Dasilva and Brentford’s Jannik Schuster appear in just 0.7% and 0.2% of Fantasy Premier League teams respectively, but they were the top-scoring two defenders in Matchweek 5.

Dasilva bagged his side’s first league goal of the season and, also keeping a clean sheet against Forest, racked up 15 points.

And Schuster was just one behind with 14 thanks to an assist and clean sheet against Chelsea.

Two more defenders totalled more than 10 FPL points this weekend: Everton’s James Tarkowski (14, selected by 15.5% of FPL players) and Newcastle’s Lewis Hall (13 points, selected by 16.3% of FPL players).