Maguire's stats illustrate his influence

Friday 15 January 2021 10:09

Harry Maguire continues to rank highly when it comes to the Premier League stats for various facets of defending, as the Manchester United skipper prepares to lead his side into battle against Liverpool at Anfield.

The England defender is in excellent form and helped shut out Burnley in midweek, ensuring only one goal has been conceded in our last three Premier League outings - the effort by Aston Villa's Bertrand Traore.

Harry was also very unlucky to have a goal harshly ruled out for a foul in the first half and remains a threat from set-pieces at the other end of the pitch.

The centre-back's ability to read the play is shown in the fact that he is second in the list of interceptions made in the division this term, only behind Chelsea's midfield ball-winner N'Golo Kante.

According to stats website FBREF.com, Fulham's Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa is in third spot, ahead of West Ham's England international Declan Rice and former Reds youngster Josh Brownhill, who played against us for Burnley on Tuesday.

The United captain is an outstanding header of the ball and unsurprisingly ranks highly in terms of winning aerial challenges, even if he is some way behind leader Tomas Soucek, the West Ham midfielder.

Only one defender is ahead of Harry on the list, Burnley's James Tarkowski while the centre-back's colleague Chris Wood and Sheffield United striker Oli McBurnie are also towards the top in this field.

The impressive numbers are only really a continuation of the 27-year-old's work last season. He was top for interceptions made with 55, ahead of Rice in second place and Old Trafford team-mate Aaron Wan-Bissaka in third spot. 

Harry was third in terms of aerial challenges won (193) in the 2020/21 Premier League, with Tarkowski leading in this area. Sebastien Haller was second in that particular table but he recently left West Ham United for Ajax.

Maguire is expected to start on Sunday when United face Liverpool at Anfield. Kick-off is scheduled for 16:30 GMT and you can follow live updates, on ManUtd.com and via our Official App. 

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