Premier League ‘Unbeaten XI’: The players to have started most often without losing

While Liverpool may ultimately have been left a little frustrated by their stalemate at Old Trafford under the circumstances, for one player a draw was good enough to claim a Premier League record this season.

The match was the 13th start of Fabinho’s career in England’s top-flight without having ended on the losing side on any of said occasions, which is now the most in the division.

The Reds summer signing had to make do with a very slow start Anfield but has proven to be an increasingly important player over the course of the season, albeit having been left out of the lineup in the club’s only league defeat to Manchester City.

It was a match that fellow newcomer Naby Keita had to make do with a place on the bench too, with he - and teammate Joe Gomez - having started 12 matches without defeat in the Premier League this season. The comes another summer recruit for the Merseysiders in Xherdan Shaqiri, who is also yet to lose any of the 11 matches that he has started this season.

In fact, there isn’t a single player that doesn’t play for Liverpool to have started ten or more league games without having lost on at least one of said starts.

There are two players to have started nine games without defeat, however, with Benjamin Mendy a relatively unsurprising inclusion but Arsenal’s Rob Holding more so. The 23-year-old has been sidelined since picking up a knee injury at Old Trafford in December but is still set to agree a new long term contract regardless, which makes sense when considering the team’s record when he has been involved.

There’s another Liverpool player next up on eight in the form of centre-back Joel Matip, who is joined on that number by Burnley captain Tom Heaton. The goalkeeper’s return to the team following injury has had a huge impact on the Clarets results, winning five and drawing three of the league matches he has started having suffered 13 defeats in the 19 matches he did not.

With only three more players having started more than five Premier League games this season without losing any of them, the goalkeepers appearance coincidentally enables what would be a functioning starting XI of players yet to have lost when they have started this season.

Vincent Kompany slots into the heart of a back three, while Chelsea’s oft-overlooked striker Olivier Giroud leads the line (both six starts without defeat). The final piece of the puzzle is the most surprising inclusion in the side, with Alexis Sanchez taking his place on the left. The Chilean has been much maligned since his move to Old Trafford but Manchester United have avoided defeat in the six league matches he has started, winning five.

All in all, of the 11 players to make more than five starts without ending on the losing side in the Premier League, there is a combined total of 100 starts in our ‘Unbeaten XI’.