Best Centre-Backs in the Scottish Premiership 2026/2027
The best centre-backs in the Scottish Premiership 2026/2027, ranked by FootyCabin's position-adjusted season Impact Score. 28 players meet the existing eligibility rules for this position; the top 20 are listed.
| Rank# | Player | Club | Minutes | Impact Score | Tackles / 90 | Interceptions / 90 | Clearances / 90 | Aerial win % | Pass accuracy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grant HanleyHibernian | Hibernian | 413 | 72.4 | 1.96 | 1.74 | 6.54 | — | 93.0% |
| 2 | Cameron Carter-Vickers Celtic | Celtic | 540 | 66.9 | 1.83 | 1.00 | 6.67 | — | 89.3% |
| 3 | Emmanuel FernandezRangers | Rangers | 810 | 63.9 | 0.89 | 1.56 | 7.78 | 78.0% | 83.6% |
| 4 | Jake Girdwood-ReichMotherwell | Motherwell | 434 | 62.5 | 0.41 | 0.62 | 6.84 | — | 89.3% |
| 5 | Jason KerrHibernian | Hibernian | 810 | 60.9 | 1.56 | 1.22 | 5.33 | — | 85.3% |
| 6 | Auston TrustyCeltic | Celtic | 560 | 58.6 | 0.96 | 0.48 | 5.14 | — | 93.1% |
| 7 | Michael ForbesDundee United | Dundee United | 810 | 57.2 | 1.33 | 1.33 | 7.11 | — | 83.9% |
| 8 | C. DiabateSt. Johnstone | St. Johnstone | 683 | 56.7 | 0.66 | 0.66 | 6.85 | — | 89.5% |
| 9 | Jamie McCartHearts | Hearts | 642 | 56.7 | 1.40 | 1.68 | 6.03 | — | 85.8% |
| 10 | Bert EsselinkDundee United | Dundee United | 782 | 56.2 | 0.92 | 1.61 | 7.37 | 58.2% | 86.9% |
| 11 | Alex GogicSt. Mirren | St. Mirren | 810 | 55.4 | 1.56 | 1.89 | 7.22 | 52.2% | 88.6% |
| 12 | Liam ScalesCeltic | Celtic | 626 | 54.0 | 1.44 | 0.86 | 5.32 | 56.7% | 89.3% |
| 13 | Martin MoormannMotherwell | Motherwell | 763 | 52.9 | 1.18 | 0.83 | 5.07 | — | 91.3% |
| 14 | Olwethu MakhanyaRangers | Rangers | 720 | 52.1 | 1.50 | 1.25 | 4.25 | 55.0% | 84.8% |
| 15 | Daniel HappeAberdeen | Aberdeen | 382 | 51.3 | 1.41 | 1.18 | 9.42 | — | 83.5% |
| 16 | Ryan AstleyDundee | Dundee | 810 | 50.2 | 1.56 | 1.67 | 9.11 | — | 81.4% |
| 17 | Cathal McCarthyKilmarnock | Kilmarnock | 630 | 46.4 | 2.00 | 2.43 | 5.14 | — | 81.2% |
| 18 | Henry FieldsonSt. Mirren | St. Mirren | 630 | 45.9 | 2.14 | 1.29 | 5.71 | — | 84.0% |
| 19 | Mats KnoesterAberdeen | Aberdeen | 482 | 45.8 | 1.49 | 1.49 | 5.04 | — | 87.3% |
| 20 | Stuart FindlayHearts | Hearts | 480 | 44.9 | 0.75 | 0.75 | 6.94 | — | 86.4% |
How this ranking works
Players are ranked by the Football Performance Lab Impact Score, an experimental in-house model that combines role-relative percentile families using explicit position-specific weights. The score shown here is the stored season-level figure for the Scottish Premiership 2026/2027; nothing is recalculated for this page. It is not an official rating, not a definitive measure of player quality, and not a prediction.
Only players with a published Impact Score for this competition and season are eligible, and a position page is published only when at least 5 players qualify. Players without enough data are excluded rather than shown with a substitute figure, and a statistic the provider did not record is shown as not available, never as zero. Read the full scoring methodology.
Last updated: 22 Oct 2026