The Premier League’s Hardest Workers – Who Won the Tackle and Interception Battle in 2025/26?

11th June 2026

Every Premier League season, the Golden Boot gets the headlines. The top scorers and assist kings fill the back pages. But the players who do the dirty work – the ones breaking up play, winning the ball back, and putting their body on the line – deserve their own spotlight.

So who were the Premier League’s hardest workers in 2025/26? Let’s get into the numbers.

The Tackle King: James Garner

James Garner finished the season with 119 tackles – more than any other player in the Premier League. At 3.13 tackles per game across 38 appearances, the Everton midfielder was an absolute machine in the middle of the park.

But Garner wasn’t just a tackler. He also ranked 2nd in the league for interceptions with 58, making him the most complete ball-winner in the division. Add in his 7 assists and 12 yellow cards (joint-most in the league), and you get the full picture of a player who was everywhere – for better and worse.

His combined tally of 177 tackles plus interceptions is a genuinely eye-catching number. Very few players in Europe’s top five leagues can match that kind of output.

The Per-Game Monster: Joao Palhinha

If you’re looking at pure per-game intensity, Joao Palhinha was the standout. The Tottenham midfielder recorded 109 tackles in 33 appearances – that’s 3.3 tackles per game, the highest rate in the league among regular starters.

Palhinha’s role at Spurs was built entirely around winning the ball back, and the data shows he did it better than anyone on a per-game basis. His 109 tackles placed him 2nd overall behind Garner, but with five fewer appearances, his per-game rate was significantly higher.

The Wolves Warrior: Joao Gomes

Joao Gomes had a brutal season with Wolves finishing bottom of the table, but individually the Brazilian was outstanding. He ranked 3rd for tackles with 108, 2nd for fouls committed with 69 (1.97 per game), and picked up a yellow card roughly every three matches.

Gomes was Wolves’ most combative player by a distance. In a team that struggled all season, he was the one player consistently fighting for every ball. The 69 fouls tell their own story – he was doing everything he could to stop attacks, even if it meant giving away free kicks to do it.

The Interception Leader: Moises Caicedo

While tackles are about winning the ball in direct duels, interceptions are about reading the game and cutting passes off before they arrive. Nobody did that better than Moises Caicedo.

The Chelsea midfielder topped the interception charts with 60 in 33 games – 1.82 per game. He also committed 54 fouls and picked up 11 yellow cards (4th most in the league), making him one of the most aggressive ball-winners in the division.

Caicedo’s combination of interceptions (1st), fouls (4th), and yellow cards (4th) paints the picture of a player who was absolutely relentless in the middle of the park.

The Full-Back Who Tackles Like a Midfielder: Adrien Truffert

One of the more surprising names near the top of the tackling charts was Adrien Truffert. The Bournemouth full-back racked up 104 tackles and 51 interceptions across 38 appearances.

That’s 155 combined tackles and interceptions from a full-back – numbers that would look impressive for a central midfielder. Truffert’s defensive output was one of the stories of the season that flew under the radar, and it played a big part in Bournemouth finishing 6th.

The Dirty Dozen – Yellow Card Leaders

No review of the league’s hardest workers would be complete without checking the booking count. Three players finished tied on 12 yellow cards – the most in the Premier League:

Wolves had two of the three most-booked players in the league. When you’re fighting relegation all season and losing more games than you win, the fouls pile up. Wolves committed 493 fouls as a team – the most in the division.

The Hardest Working Team

At team level, the tackle and foul numbers tell an interesting story about playing style. Wolves led the league for fouls (493), followed by Spurs (462) and Bournemouth (457).

Meanwhile, Arsenal committed just 391 fouls and picked up only 51 yellow cards – the fewest in the entire league. When you’re controlling games and possession, you don’t need to foul. Title winners tend to have the cleanest disciplinary records, and Arsenal’s numbers prove it.

Explore the full Premier League stat rankings on Statz.