Our FTBL World Top 23 for defenders remains under the total domination of English Premier League players, with all three top goalkeepers and six defenders playing for English clubs.

Manchester United’s Irish defender John O’Shea (pictured in center), with 120.36 points over all, has returned to the top after elbowing aside Bayern Munich's German Philipp Lahm, who joined the group just recently. The Ireland international only had to pick up 2 rating points in the game against Wigan, which he did, boosting his overall rating by 9 points.

The remainder of our rating of best world defenders remains unchanged: Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand (pictured right), and Patrice Evra appear in that order. Only Chelsea’s John Terry and Arsenal’s William Gallas are in that elite list.

The top third goalkeepers are Man United’s Edwin van der Sar, Chelsea’s Petr Cech, and Liverpool’s Jose Reina, respectively. Van der Sar, despite losing a little more than 2 rating points in the game against Wigan, remains comfortably at the top of our rating with 143.54 points over all.