At a time when Manchester City lacked a true CF, several players moved into this position in order to provide a central reference in the moment of defensive pressure. Bernardo Silva’s performance in this position was excellent but with a limited number of minutes.
| Player | Rating | Defense | Minutes Played | Team |
| Bernardo Silva | 8.77 | Back 4 | 540 | Manchester City |
| Harry Kane | 8.53 | Back 5 | 2403 | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Sadio Mané | 8.43 | Back 4 | 793 | Liverpool |
| Ivan Toney | 7.88 | Back 4 | 720 | Brentford |
| Leandro Trossard | 7.80 | Back 5 | 540 | Brighton |
| Phil Foden | 7.60 | Back 4 | 864 | Manchester City |
| Allan Saint-Maximin | 7.53 | Back 5 | 620 | Newcastle United |
| Daniel Podence | 7.47 | Back 5 | 582 | Wolves |
| Kai Havertz | 7.47 | Back 5 | 1221 | Chelsea |
| Leandro Trossard | 7.43 | Back 4 | 734 | Brighton |
| Wilfried Zaha | 7.42 | Back 4 | 477 | Crystal Palace |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | 7.40 | Back 4 | 2296 | Manchester United |
| Jamie Vardy | 7.33 | Back 4 | 1339 | Leicester City |
| Diogo Jota | 7.23 | Back 4 | 1534 | Liverpool |
| Gabriel Jesus | 7.10 | Back 4 | 738 | Manchester City |
Conditions for the presented data:
– Minimum minutes played in the season: 450 minutes (equivalent to 5 full games) per type of defense played (Back 4 or Back 5);
Data from FBref.