There’s a big question surrounding England‘s centre-back partnership at the 2026 World Cup.
Marc Guehi is a nailed on starter, but there has been a battle between Ezri Konsa and John Stones for who will partner him. Konsa looked a guarantee, but Stones has gained playing time recently after returning from injury.
Both players had their chances in England’s pre-tournament friendlies, but Thomas Tuchel was keeping his cards close to his chest.
So, who should be Guehi’s centre-back partner? We used our Comparison Matrix to assess Ezri Konsa vs John Stones.
Ezri Konsa vs John Stones
Defensive contributions
There are so many requirements for a centre-back in modern football. But, first and foremost, it should be about the defending. And the key defensive contributions which are: tackles, clearancs, interceptions, blocks and recoveries.
Now, there is the caveat of Stones’ appearances in 2025-26. He only played 439 minutes for Manchester City in the Premier League, compared to Konsa’s 3,036 for Aston Villa. That can skew things, even when looking at stats per 90 minutes. Systems make a difference too.
In his limited time on the pitch for Man City, Stones averaged 4.4 clearances per 90 in the Premier League. That’s quite a lot considering the team he played for. Game states will have played a part in the numbers, with Stones coming off the bench in four of his nine league appearances. Konsa averaged 3.7 clearances per 90 for Aston Villa, which was some way off the top in the league. But Villa as a whole weren’t overly high on clearances. Stones also wins the battle for his ball recoveries at 3.9 per 90 to Konsa’s 3.3, and blocked shots (1.3 to 0.9).
But Konsa was the busier in stopping opposition attackers. The Villa centre-back averaged 0.7 tackles per 90, more than Stones’ 0.3. Tackle numbers aren’t generally high for centre-backs, with that responsibility falling on the centre-backs and midfielders. And lower tackle numbers doesn’t always mean a bad defender. But it’s good to know that Konsa can produce a tackle if needed at the World Cup. Konsa and Stones were also level on 0.7 interceptions per 90, while the Villa man did have clean sheets under his belt.
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Success in duels
Delving even deeper into the defensive metrics, Tuchel will want his centre-backs to be strong in the duel. And Konsa vs Stones is an interesting battle here. So much so, Tuchel’s big might depend on what he wants from each particular game.
Stones is better in winning duels overall, though it’s a slight advantage. The Man City man averaged 4.2 duels contested per 90 in the Premier League in 2025-26, winning 2.9 of those. That’s a success rate of 69.05%. Konsa, meanwhile, won 66.67% of his total duels contested — 3.0 from 4.5. Of course, minutes played will have some impact on this, with a smaller sample size generally favouring players. Stones is better in the air than Konsa, too. He won 2.3 of his 2.7 aerial duels per 90 in the Premier League, with 84.62% success rate. Konsa’s success rate was just 57.14%.
But, Konsa is the man you want when the ball is on the ground. He averaged 2.8 ground duels contested per 90 in the league in 2025-26, compared to Stones’ 1.5. And Konsa won 2.1 of those ground duels, a 72.34% success rate. Stones, on the other hand, won just 42.86% of his 1.5 contested ground duels per 90. Even though he wasn’t involved in as many ground duels, Stones was still losing more than half of his battles. Guehi has the strength in the air too, so Konsa might be the better partner.
On the ball
Of course, passing has also become key for centre-backs. And that will be a big thing in Tuchel’s England backline. A centre-back will need to be calm on the ball and able to keep, and recycle, possession — while also starting attacking moves.
In a possession-heavy side like Man City, Stones’ numbers are bound to be high. But Villa are no mugs. And Konsa has really thrived this season. In fact, he comes out on top in most passing metrics in this matchup. Konsa attempted 62.1 passes per 90 in the Premier League in 2025-26, completing 59.3 of those. That’s an incredible passing accuracy of 95.51%. Stones’ passing accuracy was excellent too, completing 93.38% of his passes (57.9 from 62 per 90).
Konsa is also better with long passes too. While that’s not something England will look to use too much, it’s a good outlet to have in case the pressure is on the defence. Konsa completed 61% of his long passes in the Premier League, with 1.9 completed from 3.0 per 90. Stones attempted 2.7 long passes per 90, completing 1.5 (53.85%). But Stones did attempt more forward passes per 90, at 21 to Konsa’s 17.2. Konsa’s passing was more about looking to retain possession, with 41.3 sideways passes per 90. Again this would complement Guehi well, and that needs to be taken into account.
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