Serie A · 2026/27 · after matchday 11

The best defensive midfielders in Serie A so far this season

As of 8 November 2026, The Prism ranks Reda Belahyane (Lazio) as the best defensive midfielder in Serie A, with a standing of 76 out of 100, ahead of Nemanja Matić and Máximo Perrone.

19 ranked346+ league minutes6 measuresUpdated 8 November 2026How we rank

Reda BelahyaneLazio · 22 · France#1

76standing, 1st of 19

Best at pass completion, 93%, 2nd of 19

Nemanja MatićSassuolo · 38 · Serbia#2

74standing, 2nd of 19

Best at duels won, 63%, 1st of 19

Máximo PerroneComo · 23 · Argentina#3

70standing, 3rd of 19

Best at pass completion, 94%, 1st of 19

The top 10

Open a row for all 6 measures and where he sits among the 19.

Reda BelahyaneLazio · 22 · France 761st of 19 Pass completion 93%2ndLong-ball accuracy 76%3rdAccurate passes 61.445th

Tackles and interceptions per 902.85 13th of 19

Pass completion93% 2nd of 19

Accurate passes per 9061.44 5th of 19

Duels won58% 5th of 19

Times dispossessed per 900.53 8th fewest of 19

Long-ball accuracy76% 3rd of 19

Each dot is one of the 19 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Reda Belahyane's page

Nemanja MatićSassuolo · 38 · Serbia 742nd of 19 Duels won 63%1stTackles + int. 3.516thLong-ball accuracy 62%6th

Tackles and interceptions per 903.51 6th of 19

Pass completion87% 10th of 19

Accurate passes per 9057.66 7th of 19

Duels won63% 1st of 19

Times dispossessed per 900.48 7th fewest of 19

Long-ball accuracy62% 6th of 19

Each dot is one of the 19 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Nemanja Matić's page

Máximo PerroneComo · 23 · Argentina 703rd of 19 Pass completion 94%1stAccurate passes 82.121stLong-ball accuracy 84%1st

Tackles and interceptions per 903.18 9th of 19

Pass completion94% 1st of 19

Accurate passes per 9082.12 1st of 19

Duels won46% 15th of 19

Times dispossessed per 900.61 11th fewest of 19

Long-ball accuracy84% 1st of 19

Each dot is one of the 19 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Máximo Perrone's page

Gianluca BusioVenezia · 24 · United States 674th of 19 Duels won 61%2ndLong-ball accuracy 76%2ndPass completion 91%5th

Tackles and interceptions per 903.39 7th of 19

Pass completion91% 5th of 19

Accurate passes per 9049.75 8th of 19

Duels won61% 2nd of 19

Times dispossessed per 900.68 12th fewest of 19

Long-ball accuracy76% 2nd of 19

Each dot is one of the 19 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Gianluca Busio's page

Bryan CristanteRoma · 31 · Italy 665th of 19 Tackles + int. 3.792ndAccurate passes 66.934thDispossessed 0.466th fewest

Tackles and interceptions per 903.79 2nd of 19

Pass completion87% 11th of 19

Accurate passes per 9066.93 4th of 19

Duels won55% 7th of 19

Times dispossessed per 900.46 6th fewest of 19

Long-ball accuracy52% 9th of 19

Each dot is one of the 19 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Bryan Cristante's page

Hakan ÇalhanoğluInter · 32 · Turkey 596th of 19 Accurate passes 76.452ndPass completion 91%4thLong-ball accuracy 70%5th

Tackles and interceptions per 903.15 10th of 19

Pass completion91% 4th of 19

Accurate passes per 9076.45 2nd of 19

Duels won44% 16th of 19

Times dispossessed per 901.11 17th fewest of 19

Long-ball accuracy70% 5th of 19

Each dot is one of the 19 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Hakan Çalhanoğlu's page

Mandela KeitaParma · 24 · Belgium 587th of 19 Tackles + int. 3.693rdDuels won 61%4thLong-ball accuracy 73%4th

Tackles and interceptions per 903.69 3rd of 19

Pass completion88% 9th of 19

Accurate passes per 9028.06 19th of 19

Duels won61% 4th of 19

Times dispossessed per 901.20 18th fewest of 19

Long-ball accuracy73% 4th of 19

Each dot is one of the 19 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Mandela Keita's page

Stanislav LobotkaNapoli · 31 · Slovakia 568th of 19 Pass completion 91%3rdDuels won 61%3rdDispossessed 0.435th fewest

Tackles and interceptions per 902.01 17th of 19

Pass completion91% 3rd of 19

Accurate passes per 9049.30 9th of 19

Duels won61% 3rd of 19

Times dispossessed per 900.43 5th fewest of 19

Long-ball accuracy44% 14th of 19

Each dot is one of the 19 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Stanislav Lobotka's page

Harry WinksCagliari · 30 · England 519th of 19 Pass completion 90%6thDispossessed 0.5710th fewestLong-ball accuracy 50%10th

Tackles and interceptions per 902.42 14th of 19

Pass completion90% 6th of 19

Accurate passes per 9048.20 12th of 19

Duels won44% 17th of 19

Times dispossessed per 900.57 10th fewest of 19

Long-ball accuracy50% 10th of 19

Each dot is one of the 19 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Harry Winks's page

Morten FrendrupGenoa · 25 · Denmark 4910th of 19 Tackles + int. 4.441stDuels won 52%8thDispossessed 0.549th fewest

Tackles and interceptions per 904.44 1st of 19

Pass completion86% 13th of 19

Accurate passes per 9032.49 17th of 19

Duels won52% 8th of 19

Times dispossessed per 900.54 9th fewest of 19

Long-ball accuracy38% 17th of 19

Each dot is one of the 19 defensive midfielders; further right is better. The dashed line is the middle of the group.Morten Frendrup's page

Each figure with his place among the 19 defensive midfielders. Fewest is best for times dispossessed per 90.
Player	Standing	Tackles + int.	Pass completion	Accurate passes	Duels won	Dispossessed	Long-ball accuracy
1Reda Belahyane	76	2.8513th	93%2nd	61.445th	58%5th	0.538th fewest	76%3rd
2Nemanja Matić	74	3.516th	87%10th	57.667th	63%1st	0.487th fewest	62%6th
3Máximo Perrone	70	3.189th	94%1st	82.121st	46%15th	0.6111th fewest	84%1st
4Gianluca Busio	67	3.397th	91%5th	49.758th	61%2nd	0.6812th fewest	76%2nd
5Bryan Cristante	66	3.792nd	87%11th	66.934th	55%7th	0.466th fewest	52%9th
6Hakan Çalhanoğlu	59	3.1510th	91%4th	76.452nd	44%16th	1.1117th fewest	70%5th
7Mandela Keita	58	3.693rd	88%9th	28.0619th	61%4th	1.2018th fewest	73%4th
8Stanislav Lobotka	56	2.0117th	91%3rd	49.309th	61%3rd	0.435th fewest	44%14th
9Harry Winks	51	2.4214th	90%6th	48.2012th	44%17th	0.5710th fewest	50%10th
10Morten Frendrup	49	4.441st	86%13th	32.4917th	52%8th	0.549th fewest	38%17th

9 more defensive midfielders are ranked in The Prism

See every one, filter by age, foot and height, and open any player's full profile.

See all 19 in The Prism

Where all 19 sit

Every defensive midfielder in Serie A with 346 minutes or more, on The Prism standing. Blue is this ranking's top 10; the other 9 are named in The Prism.

Since last season

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

↑ Reda Belahyane43 last season, 76 now

↓ Hakan Çalhanoğlu84 last season, 59 now

↑ Bryan Cristante42 last season, 66 now

↓ Morten Frendrup73 last season, 49 now

How this ranking is made

Defensive midfielders in Serie A 2026/27 with at least 346 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. 11 matchdays have been played, so the minutes bar is 346. 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 Attacking midfielders Wingers Strikers Lazio young players Sassuolo young players Como young players Venezia young players Roma young players Inter young players Parma young players Napoli young players Cagliari young players Genoa young players

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