While there are a number of top midfielders protecting their back fours at the moment, the question is who is the best defensive midfield player in the Premier League right now?

Despite Arsenal’s Thomas Partey, West Ham’s Declan Rice, Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes and former Leeds United man, now Man City midfielder Kalvin Philips being excellent midfield generals, on the face of it Casemiro of Manchester United and Rodri of Manchester City are perhaps the two greatest defensive midfielders not only in the Premier League but also in the world at this current moment.

The question is who is the better defensive midfield player in the Premier League right now? Both are physical imposing colossi who help protect their respective back lines with vigour – however, they’re also both extremely technically adept and composed on the ball. Picking a better player from the two is difficult – but we’ll give it a go.

This season, Casemiro appears to be having the better season of the two. He has scored four goals and racked up six assists, while Rodri has two goals and five assists in all competitions. On top of this, United look far more vulnerable when he is not in the team – sometimes significantly so.

Rodri has the better disciplinary record of the two – the Spaniard has never received red card whilst playing for Manchester City. Casemiro, who has been in England’s top division for a far briefer period of time, has already been red carded for United on one occasion.

Casemiro has had the more successful career so far, with five Champions Leagues and three La Liga trophies under his belt with Real Madrid, but he’s also four years old than Rodri. The City midfielder is four years younger than Casemiro, but it is very unlikely he’ll win as many Champions Leagues as the Brazilian.

Additionally, Casemiro is perhaps the more creative of the two. While Rodri possesses excellent passing and vision, Pep Guardiola’s style of play mainly restricts him to playing short passes – meanwhile, as Manchester United play more direct than City, Casemiro has freedom to pick out his teammates from deep with (often deadly accurate) long balls.

If we were pressed into picking between the two – which we are – we’d go for Casemiro, mainly based on his formidable pedigree. However, it’s all subjective – what do you think?