Rice, Caicedo And Gravenberch's Stats Compared And There's A Clear Winner

We've compared the stats of Arsenal's Declan Rice, Chelsea's Moises Caicedo and Liverpool's Ryan Gravenberch - and there is a clear winner.

The trio are regarded as three of the top defensive midfielders in the Premier League currently.

While Rice is comfortably the most experienced of the three in terms of appearances, Gravenberch is the only one to have won a Premier League title with his current club.

Caicedo, meanwhile, held the record as British football's most expensive player when he moved to Chelsea from Brighton in the summer of 2023.

That figure was later overtaken by Alexander Isak, who joined Liverpool for £125 million - compared to the £115m Chelsea paid to sign Caicedo - earlier this year.

Rice's set piece ability has become a key part of his game going forward, and he scored two free-kicks in the same match against Real Madrid in the Champions League last season.

But according to the data, who has been the best player of the trio this season? We've used Squawka's Comparison Metrix to take a look:

Rice vs Caicedo vs Gravenberch compared - defence

When it comes to the defensive side of the game, there is a clear winner, with Caicedo topping the majority of statistics.

He averages 3.3 tackles made per 90 minutes, with Rice (1.9) and Gravenberch (2.1) trailing behind him.

The Ecuador international, though, is more significantly involved in the defensive side of the game, perhaps as a result of the differing styles employed by each of the three teams.

He contests more duels on average that Rice and Gravenberch, and has more interceptions (2.5) than both players.

He is comfortably behind in terms of aerial duel success, though that would be expected as he only stands at 5ft 10in tall compared to Rice (6ft 2in) and Gravenberch (6ft 3in).

Caicedo is also superior in ball recoveries to top the defensive statistics overall.

Caicedo vs Rice vs Gravenberch compared - possession

If you thought Caicedo was a clear winner in the defensive category, it is Rice who completely dominates the possession statistics.

In every judged metric, the England midfielder is comfortably clear of Caicedo and Gravenberch, including passing accuracy, chance creation and touches in the opposition box.

Again, Arsenal's style of play means Rice has a much more active role in the Gunners' build-up play in a way that Caicedo is more involved defensively for Chelsea.

But the numbers clearly show that, when it comes to quality and effectiveness on the ball, Rice cannot be rivalled by either player.

Caicedo vs Rice vs Gravenberch compared - attacking

Finally, while of course not the most important metric for a defensive midfielder, we've looked at how the trio compare in the final third to determine the best all-round midfielder.

Rice again performs strongly in attacking data, but it is Gravenberch who wins in the shots on target, shots blocked and forward passes metrics.

Rice does manage more touches in the opposition box than both of his rivals, and more passes completed in the opposition half, while he is also more effective directly from set pieces.

Caicedo, meanwhile, is less of an attacking threat but does have a 100 per cent shot accuracy this season.

Who do you think is the best defensive midfielder in the Premier League? Let us know in the comments...