Cape Town – Virgil van Dijk continues to be the Premier League’s most influential defender at 35, with Liverpool’s young summer signing Jérémy Jacquet already proving why he could be his long-term successor.
Van Dijk is showing no sign of slowing down well into his 30s. The Liverpool captain remains the Premier League’s most dominant outfield player for starting attacks in the opposition half this season, leading the entire division by a clear distance.
Van Dijk tops the charts with 68 attacks started in the opposition half, well clear of the chasing pack. Sunderland’s Granit Xhaka sits second with 53, followed closely by Tottenham’s Jan Paul van Hecke on 52.
Most attacks started in the opponent’s half in the PL this season (outfield players):
◉ 68 – Virgil van Dijk
◎ 53 – Granit Xhaka
◎ 52 – Jan Paul van Hecke
◉ 50 – Jérémy Jacquet
◎ 50 – Declan RiceVirgil van Dijk (68) and Jérémy Jacquet (50) both rank in the Top 5 Premier… https://t.co/rcxTpfNSSl pic.twitter.com/lej9uf8aPu
— WhoScored (@WhoScored) September 14, 2026
Jacquet and Arsenal’s Declan Rice are tied on 50 apiece to round out the top five.
At just 21-years-old, Jacquet completed a £60 million move from Rennes this summer, and made his Premier League debut in a 2-2 draw at Newcastle.
Read more: Soccermag
To already be ranking alongside a defender of Van Dijk’s pedigree for a metric like this points to a smooth transition into Andoni Iraola’s side, and offers an early glimpse of what Liverpool’s defence could look like once Van Dijk eventually moves on. His performances have also been rewarded by a call up to the French national team by new manager Zinedine Zidane.
For now, though, Van Dijk remains very much the present as well as the mentor. His number reflects his continued importance to Liverpool’s build-up play, even as he approaches the latter stages of his career.
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The metric highlights a broader shift in the modern Premier League, where central defenders and deep-lying midfielders are increasingly judged not just on their defensive actions, but on their ability to progress play and initiate attacks from deep areas of the pitch.
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