Ligue 1 · 2026/27 · after matchday 10

The best young defensive midfielders in Ligue 1 so far this season

As of 8 November 2026, The Prism ranks Junior Mwanga (Le Havre, 23) as the best young defensive midfielder in Ligue 1, with a standing of 65 out of 100, ahead of Xavier Mandza and Tochukwu Nnadi.

8 rankedagainst all 22315+ league minutes6 measuresUpdated 8 November 2026How we rank

Junior MwangaLe Havre · 23 · France#1

65standing, 1st of 8

Best at duels won, 63%, 1st of 22

Xavier MandzaNice · 17 · France#2

64standing, 2nd of 8

Best at accurate passes per 90, 66.76, 4th of 22

Tochukwu NnadiOlympique Marseille · 23 · Nigeria#3

56standing, 3rd of 8

Best at duels won, 62%, 2nd of 22

The top 8

Open a row for all 6 measures and where he sits among the 22.

Junior MwangaLe Havre · 23 · France 651st of 8 Duels won 63%1stTackles + int. 4.792ndLong-ball accuracy 62%9th

Tackles and interceptions per 904.79 2nd of 22

Pass completion90% 10th of 22

Accurate passes per 9038.76 17th of 22

Duels won63% 1st of 22

Times dispossessed per 900.87 17th fewest of 22

Long-ball accuracy62% 9th of 22

Each dot is one of the 22 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Junior Mwanga's page

2 XM

Xavier MandzaNice · 17 · France 642nd of 8 Accurate passes 66.764thPass completion 90%9thDispossessed 0.479th fewest

Tackles and interceptions per 903.20 13th of 22

Pass completion90% 9th of 22

Accurate passes per 9066.76 4th of 22

Duels won49% 13th of 22

Times dispossessed per 900.47 9th fewest of 22

Long-ball accuracy53% 14th of 22

Each dot is one of the 22 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Xavier Mandza's page

Tochukwu NnadiOlympique Marseille · 23 · Nigeria 563rd of 8 Duels won 62%2ndLong-ball accuracy 78%3rdAccurate passes 50.518th

Tackles and interceptions per 903.09 14th of 22

Pass completion89% 11th of 22

Accurate passes per 9050.51 8th of 22

Duels won62% 2nd of 22

Times dispossessed per 900.88 18th fewest of 22

Long-ball accuracy78% 3rd of 22

Each dot is one of the 22 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Tochukwu Nnadi's page

Niko SigurToulouse · 23 · Canada 494th of 8 Pass completion 92%4thDispossessed 0.355th fewestLong-ball accuracy 63%8th

Tackles and interceptions per 902.46 16th of 22

Pass completion92% 4th of 22

Accurate passes per 9044.12 12th of 22

Duels won44% 18th of 22

Times dispossessed per 900.35 5th fewest of 22

Long-ball accuracy63% 8th of 22

Each dot is one of the 22 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Niko Sigur's page

Ngal'ayel MukauLOSC Lille · 22 · DR Congo 405th of 8 Dispossessed 0.427th fewestTackles + int. 3.768thLong-ball accuracy 62%10th

Tackles and interceptions per 903.76 8th of 22

Pass completion87% 14th of 22

Accurate passes per 9033.94 19th of 22

Duels won48% 15th of 22

Times dispossessed per 900.42 7th fewest of 22

Long-ball accuracy62% 10th of 22

Each dot is one of the 22 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Ngal'ayel Mukau's page

Dário EssugoStrasbourg · 21 · Portugal 336th of 8 Tackles + int. 3.749thDuels won 53%9thPass completion 86%15th

Tackles and interceptions per 903.74 9th of 22

Pass completion86% 15th of 22

Accurate passes per 9026.39 22nd of 22

Duels won53% 9th of 22

Times dispossessed per 901.38 22nd fewest of 22

Long-ball accuracy36% 22nd of 22

Each dot is one of the 22 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Dário Essugo's page

Arthur PiedfortAuxerre · 21 · Belgium 327th of 8 Tackles + int. 3.767thLong-ball accuracy 54%13thDuels won 45%17th

Tackles and interceptions per 903.76 7th of 22

Pass completion86% 18th of 22

Accurate passes per 9031.67 20th of 22

Duels won45% 17th of 22

Times dispossessed per 901.25 21st fewest of 22

Long-ball accuracy54% 13th of 22

Each dot is one of the 22 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Arthur Piedfort's page

Diogo SousaStrasbourg · 20 · Portugal 228th of 8 Dispossessed 0.6410th fewestLong-ball accuracy 50%17thPass completion 79%21st

Tackles and interceptions per 901.60 22nd of 22

Pass completion79% 21st of 22

Accurate passes per 9028.99 21st of 22

Duels won26% 22nd of 22

Times dispossessed per 900.64 10th fewest of 22

Long-ball accuracy50% 17th of 22

Each dot is one of the 22 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Diogo Sousa's page

Each figure with his place among the 22 defensive midfielders. Fewest is best for times dispossessed per 90.
Player	Standing	Tackles + int.	Pass completion	Accurate passes	Duels won	Dispossessed	Long-ball accuracy
1Junior Mwanga	65	4.792nd	90%10th	38.7617th	63%1st	0.8717th fewest	62%9th
2Xavier Mandza	64	3.2013th	90%9th	66.764th	49%13th	0.479th fewest	53%14th
3Tochukwu Nnadi	56	3.0914th	89%11th	50.518th	62%2nd	0.8818th fewest	78%3rd
4Niko Sigur	49	2.4616th	92%4th	44.1212th	44%18th	0.355th fewest	63%8th
5Ngal'ayel Mukau	40	3.768th	87%14th	33.9419th	48%15th	0.427th fewest	62%10th
6Dário Essugo	33	3.749th	86%15th	26.3922nd	53%9th	1.3822nd fewest	36%22nd
7Arthur Piedfort	32	3.767th	86%18th	31.6720th	45%17th	1.2521st fewest	54%13th
8Diogo Sousa	22	1.6022nd	79%21st	28.9921st	26%22nd	0.6410th fewest	50%17th

Where all 22 sit

Every defensive midfielder in Ligue 1 with 315 minutes or more, on The Prism standing. Blue is this ranking's top 10; the other 14 are named in The Prism.

Since last season

The same players' standings last season, among their league's defensive midfielders then.

↑ Junior Mwanga30 last season, 65 now

↑ Ngal'ayel Mukau11 last season, 40 now

How this ranking is made

Defensive midfielders aged 23 or under in Ligue 1 2026/27 with at least 315 league minutes, ranked on tackles and interceptions per 90, pass completion, accurate passes per 90, duels won, times dispossessed per 90 and long-ball accuracy. Each measure is a percentile against every defensive midfielder in the league with the same minutes, so a young player is judged by the standard of the whole position, not only of his age group. 10 matchdays have been played, so the minutes bar is 315. It rises as the season goes on, until it reaches 450, about five full matches.

What each measure counts for, out of 100:

Tackles and interceptions per 9025Pass completion20Accurate passes per 9020Duels won15Times dispossessed per 9010Long-ball accuracy10

How The Prism ranks players, in full

More rankings

Centre backs Full backs Central midfielders Wingers Strikers Defensive midfielders, all ages Le Havre young players Nice young players Olympique Marseille young players Toulouse young players LOSC Lille young players Strasbourg young players Auxerre young players

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