Carragher’s Midfield Countdown: Gerrard crowned as Scholes slips to seventh in spicy Sky Sports ranking

Well then, Jamie Carragher has lit the touchpaper on Monday Night Football. Handed a who’s-who of 24 elite operators, he whittled it down to his definitive top 10 Premier League central midfielders – and the order will have pubs arguing till last orders. Here’s the headline: Gerrard at one, Keane two, De Bruyne three – and Paul Scholes down in seven. Cue the debate.

The list at a glance

1) Steven Gerrard; 2) Roy Keane; 3) Kevin De Bruyne; 4) Patrick Vieira; 5) Frank Lampard; 6) N’Golo Kanté; 7) Paul Scholes; 8) Yaya Touré; 9) Rodri; 10) Cesc Fàbregas.

Scholes at seven – the purist’s maestro, just not Carragher’s top tier

Plenty would have Scholes right at the summit, but Carragher parked him at No 7. His reasoning? Scholes wasn’t the archetypal all-action Premier League athlete – no lung-busting power or pace – yet he was a different breed entirely: a metronome and visionary more in the Spanish mould than the traditional English box-to-box template. A compliment, not a slight, but still a placing that’ll have Old Trafford faithful spitting out their brew.

De Bruyne third – the pass master who flipped a title race

Carragher waxed lyrical about Kevin De Bruyne’s distribution, calling him the best passer the league has seen. He pointed to that bonkers final day in 2022 when Villa went 2-0 up at the Etihad, Liverpool sniffed glory, and then De Bruyne simply took charge as City surged to the title. In Carra’s eyes, that’s City’s greatest ever player pulling the strings when it mattered.

Roy Keane at No 2 – more than bite and bravado

Keane gets silver on Carragher’s card, and not just for crunching tackles and leadership charisma. Carragher underlined the Irishman’s ability to run an elite game: receive, turn, thread between the lines, set the tempo. The narrative that Keane was merely a destroyer doesn’t wash here – this was the Premier League’s consummate conductor, with the lot going through him on the grandest stages.

Gerrard at No 1 – the complete modern midfielder

At the top, Carragher saluted Steven Gerrard’s range. Six, eight, ten – pick a role and he hit elite levels in it, which few can claim. The common retort about league titles? Carragher flips it: Gerrard was often the best player on the pitch regardless, and swapping him out for anyone else on that list wouldn’t suddenly have handed Liverpool the crown. When it comes to decisive nights, the ledger is brutal: the 2006 FA Cup final and that 2005 Champions League comeback are thunderous proof of his match-winning imprint.

The disagreement on set: Keane shouts for KDB

No surprise Roy Keane wasn’t nodding along to all of it. He made the case that De Bruyne is the greatest midfielder the Premier League has produced – the first name that springs to mind for him. It’s about taste, sure, but when a serial winner like Keane plants his flag, you listen.

Carra’s call in context

Put sentiment to one side and the criteria read like this: influence on games, versatility, passing range, and how you shape the biggest moments. On that scorecard, Carragher’s podium – Gerrard, Keane, De Bruyne – stacks up, even if Scholes at seven will stick in the craw for many. Vieira’s authority, Lampard’s goals, and Kanté’s engine get their dues, while Touré, Rodri and Fàbregas round off a list that blends dominance, craft and control.

If these rankings have you weighing form, odds and legacies, take a spin through our best betting sites for a broader view of the weekend’s narratives and numbers.

In the end, it’s the Premier League’s eternal pub debate – and that’s the joy. Carragher has drawn his lines; the rest of us will happily argue them all week.