Harry Maguire’s Premier League stats are shockingly close to Virgil van Dijk’s despite Man Utd defender’s struggles

WHILE Virgil van Dijk is considered one of the best defenders in the world, Harry Maguire has been relegated to the bench by Erik ten Hag.

But the two centre-backs are actually VERY similar when it comes down to the stats.

Manchester United skipper Maguire has come under fire for his performances in recent months, and has even been dropped from the starting line up.

Yet his stats in a few select categories, put together by , show how shockingly close some of his numbers are to the widely praised Liverpool ace Van Dijk.

The numbers cover their entire Premier League careers, with Maguire spending time at Hull and Leicester before moving to Old Trafford, while Van Dijk's stats include his time with Southampton.

England defender Maguire has played 206 Prem games, just four more than Van Dijk's 202 appearances.

And while stats don't tell the full story, in that time Maguire has made 254 tackles, 48 MORE than Van Dijk has.

Although the Anfield ace does boast a better tackle success rate at 69 per cent, compared to Maguire's 67 per cent.

Perhaps surprisingly, there is nothing to split them when it comes to errors directly leading to goals.

Both Maguire and Van Dijk have made just three errors directly leading to goals in their Prem careers.

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There is little between them in interceptions and aerial duels, too.

Maguire has made 326 interceptions at 1.58 per game, while Van Dijk has made 322 interceptions at the marginally better rate of 1.59 per game.

And both World Cup-bound defenders are similarly as effective in the air.

Maguire has won 72 per cent of his aerial duels, a tad less than Van Dijk's 74 per cent success rate.

However, football is far more than just stats and Van Dijk does have a league title to his name, while Maguire does not.

The Dutchman has also helped keep 84 clean sheets - far superior to Maguire's 51 shutouts.

Yet maybe the gulf between the pair is not as wide as some football fans may think.