Celtic defender Anthony Ralston named as Premiership's best by top stat analysts

By Euan Davidson

October 26, 2021

Celtic defender Anthony Ralston is the best player in the Scottish Premiership.

Not our verdict, but that of stat experts WhoScored?. Ralston was named as Scotland’s top-flight representative, with Mohamed Salah of Liverpool representing the English Premier League.

Karim Benzema of Real Madrid is La Liga’s top-rated player, while Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund’s 8.48 out of 10 has him leading the Bundesliga.

WhoScored? released their ratings earlier this evening, and it shows just how rapidly Anthony Ralston has ascended in 21-22.

Nowhere near the squad before the summer, Ralston has had an incredible renaissance. It gets even more impressive when you break the rating down [WhoScored?].

He’s making 2.5 tackles a game, a significant amount of effort from a full-back. Similarly, his 2.1 clearances and 0.8 blocks show an immense defensive contributions.

He’s producing chances, too. He’s at 1.8 per 90 for key passes, dribbling with the ball 1.5 times per game. The definition of an all-action full-back, Ralston is being utilised perfectly by manager Ange Postecoglou.

Others are catching up, though. David Turnbull, at 7.60, has been more quietly impressive. Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers have also been top performers for Celtic this season.

What next for Celtic defender Anthony Ralston?

Surely, Ralston will sign a new deal at Celtic before long. At 22, he’ll surely be attracting interest this season.

It’s a far cry from where he was just a season ago. On the cusp of a berth in the Scotland squad, in an area of the pitch where he’s up against Stephen O’Donnell, Nathan Patterson and Calvin Ramsay, his first cap has to surely come soon.

Perhaps, we forget how young Ralston is, because he’s been a familiar name for a number of years. But he’s going to be the subject of bids before long unless Celtic can get the boyhood Hoops fan committed to a new contract.

That’ll come. But what he can realistically aim for individually and as a team is potentially exciting.

In any case, they say you can judge a person by the company they keep. In this case, it’s Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland.

Not bad at all.

Read more: Celtic star Josip Juranovic on Postecoglou’s style and helping out McGregor