It's official, Aston Villa have the best central defensive partnership in the league

Afternoon all, nice post that from Doc earlier wasn't it. Now, leaving Arthurian legend, we turn to facts and we have a few of them today, which I think you will find quite interesting.

You see, I was putting together the post-mortem and I stumbled upon a few statistics which put a smile on my face and thought I'd share them with you. There is another coming up in the post-mortem which you will all like, but that will come probably tomorrow or I might do a two in one after the Sunderland game.

Now, the title was aimed at giving it away and I hope it has, but I am here to prove my case and my case is this; Richard Dunne, according to the Actim Index, is the fifth best defender in the league with a combined points tally of 211 - which also classes him as the 25th best player in the league.

But it isn't just about Dunne. Carlos Cueller, according to the Actim Index is the fourth best defender in the league with 215 points, which also makes him 22nd best player in the league. Above them you will find Thomas Vermaelen, Patrice Evra and Ashley Cole. You can see the list here.

But that isn't really where it ends. James Collins, who came back from injury as a substitute against Manchester United at the weekend is also on the list in 78th place overall with 158 points. Should he take back the central defensive role alongside Richard Dunner, I have a feeling he'll start climbing that list and should feature, in the not too distant future, alongside his partner.

Aston Villa Players in Actim Top 100

  • 5th: Gabby Agbonlahor - 254 points
  • 16th: Ashley Young - 228 points
  • 20th: James Milner - 220 points
  • 22nd: Carlos Cueller - 215 points
  • 25th: Richard Dunne - 211 points
  • 35th: Brad Friedel - 192 points
  • 78th: James Collins - 158 points
  • 79th: Moustapha Salifou - 150 points
  • 97th: Stephen Warnock - 147 points
  • 98th: John Carew - 146 points

Top 10 Keepers

  • 2nd: Brad Friedel

Top 10 Defenders

  • 4th: Carlos Cueller
  • 5th: Richard Dunne

Top 10 Midfielders

  • 4th: Ashley Young
  • 6th: James Milner
  • 24th: Moustapha Salifou

Top 10 Strikers

  • 4th: Gabby Agbonlahor

Now, compare these numbers with the ones from September 29th and there is a nice improvement all round. How long before Aston Villa have all eleven in the top 100?