Man United legend Vidic voted Greatest Premier League CB ahead of Ferdinand, Van Dijk

Few players have had an impact as Virgil van Dijk has had since he joined Anfield in January 2018. Liverpool have become Premier League, European and world champions since the Dutch international signed for them, shoring up their leaky defence to make it one of the finest in the Premier League. Van Dijk's performances have seen him being included in the conversation of the greatest Premier League defenders of all time, meaning comparisons with Man United duo Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic are constant along with Chelsea legend John Terry.

While the 29-year-old has a lot of supporters in this classic debate, it's Nemanja Vidic who has come out on top in a poll. 

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Vidic greatest Premier League defender: Man United legend beats fellow teammate Ferdinand, Van Dijk and John Terry 

The Premier League's greatest defender debate popped up again after Danny Murphy claimed on Match of the Day 2 that Virgil van Dijk was the best defender he'd ever seen in the Premier League. While Liverpool fans certainly agree with the assessment, rival fans pointed out that the likes of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic all had a splendid career at the top level in England. The debate has particularly heated up around Vidic and Van Dijk, and a 2019 Sky Sports poll had crowned the Man United legend the winner over the Liverpool ace. 

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In the first round of the poll, Man City captain Vincent Kompany faced off against Jaap Stam, while Van Dijk faced off against former Arsenal skipper Tony Adams. Nemanja Vidic and John Terry squared off in what was a mightily close battle, while Ferdinand was placed head to head with Sol Campbell. Defenders from London were treated with disdain as Vincent Kompany and Virgil van Dijk won their respective games to set up a semi-final clash, while Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic faced off in the other poll. 

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Van Dijk comfortably toppled Vincent Kompany in the poll, with the Man City legend himself having favoured the Liverpool colossus in this debate. Vidic set up a summit clash with the Dutch international after defeating his former partner in crime. The Man United legend won the poll comfortably and was subsequently crowned as the greatest Premier League defender by the fans.

As numbers go by, Vidic's sample size is slightly bigger as he has featured in 211 Premier League games for the Red Devils, compared to the 162 Virgil van Dijk has played for Southampton and Liverpool.

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The former Serbian international's tackles (2), clearances (11.7) and goals conceded (0.72) per 90 minutes fare much better than Liverpool ace (1.2, 5.8 and 0.96 respectively). The Man United legend has 34 more clean sheets compared to the Dutch international, but the former Southampton star is comfortably on top in passes per game (68 to Vidic's 47) and is more dominant in the air with more headers per 90 minutes (6.6 to 4.8) and a higher percentage of his aerials won than Nemanja Vidic (74.4 per cent to 73.5 per cent).

While the Man United ace has won this head-to-head battle for now, van Dijk still has a lot of time to further stress his case, and could well be considered the greatest after the end of his career. 

(Image Courtesy: Man United Twitter, Virgil van Dijk Instagram)