Every successful team is built on a strong foundation of defence, usually has a dynamic core and a proven goalscorer…but which facet has the most importance?
Well, it depends on who you ask of course. A striker will always remind you that you can’t win a game without goals and that is true enough; but a watertight defence might mean you only need to score one goal – and that is what Arsenal teams of yore have been famous for with the chant of ‘1-0 to the Arsenal’ reverberating around the Emirates; and so it was last season as Mikel Arteta’s Gunners stormed to the Premier League title.
Arsenal conceded only 27 goals in a totally dominant campaign, often scoring one or two and then snuffing out any attacking threat of their opponents, as this SBOTOP writer discovered when he watched Burnley lose 2-0 at home to Arteta’s men at the beginning of November. When asked by friends around the north of England which team I though was the best; while I suspected Manchester City would be strong in the run in, I thought Arsenal were the hardest to beat or even draw with as they were strong in every department, including the bench.
But it was the defence of the North London side which was clearly superior to all others.
Runners up City shipped 35 goals while scoring six more than the champions; meanwhile eighth placed Brighton and Hove Albion were next in line, conceding 46 goals, with Sunderland and Aston Villa making up the group conceding fewer than 50.
So, who will have the strongest defence in 2026/27? Here are my four picks…
Arsenal
Where else to start that with a side that has Brazil star Gabriel alongside French artist William Saliba at the back. Gabriel is strong in both areas, a real threat at corners in attack while Saliba too pops up with some vital goals and has positional sense and pace to complement Gabriel in defence. With Spanish stopper David Raya as the last line of defence and Jurrien Timber and Piero Hincapie at right and left back this is a classy defence, with tough tackling and serious pace down the flanks.
The Gunners have made the transfer of wingback Hincapie permanent in a £34.5m move from Bayer Leverkusen and, with Ben White, Riccardo Calafiori and Christhian Mosquera in the group this defence is the gold standard in its field.
Manchester City
Had the Sky Blues had as strong a defence as Arsenal then they would likely have won the league…but they didn’t! I’m happy to say though that City’s rearguard is not far behind and, while the Premier League 2026 betting odds make Arsenal the pre-season favourites, Enzo Maresca’s City will be a serious threat. Gianluigi Donnarumma is arguablye the best keeper in the world and, if they stay fit a centre back partnership of Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol is pretty special, while last years’ big defensive signing, Marc Guehi gives the manager a great choice of central defenders. Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico O’Reilly are quality fullbacks to make up the back line; but Maresca may still look to strengthen before the season begins.
Brighton and Hove Albion
A strong defence and the goals of Danny Welbeck gave the Seagulls some impressive Premier League 2026 results, resulting in a comfortable top half finish and a place in the 2026/27 Europa Conference League. With Dutch keeper Bart Verbruggen in the nets and skipper and talisman Lewis Dunk at the heart of defence this was a rearguard with leadership skills, unity and power. Dunk has played 469 times for Brighton and at 34 years of age he still has plenty to offer. And manager Fabian Hurzeler has strengthened is this area too, as the Seagulls have brought in Croatian centre back Luka Vuskovic in a £50m move from Tottenham Hotspur.
Liverpool
Any team with Dutch master Virgil van Dijk at the heart of defence and Brazil keeper Alisson Becker as the last line is surely going to record plenty of shutouts; but they had too many off days as a team to save Arne Slot’s job. New boss Andoni Iraola is known for his attacking philosophy which will serve Liverpool well, but he also knows how to grind out results, taking his former club Bournemouth to an unprecedented sixth place in the league and Liverpool will be challengers again this year.
And the Reds have strengthened in the defensive unit, completing the £60m signing of French centre back Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes. This season I expect Liverpool to be more solid once again.
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