Scouting Players Research

Set-Piece Weapons: The Centre-Backs Who Win Most in the Air

Published 2026-10-09 · updated 2026-11-13 · data: Sportmonks, season 2026/2027

Set-piece teams like Arsenal build around centre-backs who attack the ball - Gabriel, Saliba, Hincapié, Mosquera. These are the centre-backs in Europe's top five leagues who win the most aerial duels per 90 minutes this season - with their Moneyball Score, because winning headers is not all a centre-back does.

Most aerial duels won per 90

#	Player	Age	Aerials won / 90	Score	Height
1	Christoph Klarer Birmingham City · EFL	26	7.00	42	191 cm
2	Rob Atkinson Bristol City · EFL	28	6.59	41	193 cm
3	Liam Lindsay Preston North End · EFL	31	6.50	49	191 cm
4	Billy Koumetio Charlton Athletic · EFL	23	5.67	45	195 cm
5	Nikola Katic Schalke 04 · GER	30	5.44	64	194 cm
6	Robin Koch Eintracht Frankfurt · GER	30	5.29	73	192 cm
7	Dan Ballard Sunderland · ENG	27	5.20	61	187 cm
8	Jorge Ambrosio Mendonça Madura United · IDN	31	5.13	4	–
9	Ozan Kabak TSG Hoffenheim · GER	26	5.12	66	187 cm
10	Oscar Salomón Newell's Old Boys · ARG	27	5.07	55	181 cm
11	Oumar Sako Rostov · RUS	30	5.03	26	191 cm
12	Vítor Carvalho Sporting Braga · POR	29	4.99	43	186 cm

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How the figures are made: Sportmonks' season statistics for every player in Europe's top five leagues, per 90 minutes and adjusted for league strength, regressed toward the average of the position while minutes are few, and ranked against players in the same position. The Moneyball Score weighs what each position asks for. Early in a season every figure moves; it is an estimate, not a verdict.

Set-Piece Weapons: The Centre-Backs Who Win Most in the Air

Most aerial duels won per 90

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