Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo and Manchester City’s Rodri are two of the best midfielders in the Premier League, with the former making his case on Saturday.
The 24-year-old was phenomenal in the Blues’ 1-0 win against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
It was Caicedo who won the ball back for Chelsea before teeing up Joao Pedro for the winner.
Former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy thinks Caicedo is “immense”, but how does he compare to Rodri, whom many view as the best midfielder in the world?
Manchester City midfielder Rodri holding Ballon d'Or
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo is a better ball-winner than Rodri
Rodri was actually recognised as the best player in world football in 2024 after winning the Ballon d’Or following an incredible 2023/24 season.
During that campaign, he won the Premier League title with City and the European Championship trophy with Spain.
Ultimately, that is the level Caicedo will aspire to reach, and it is not impossible for him to get there. When it comes to tackling and winning the ball back, the Ecuadorian is undoubtedly superior to Rodri.
For example, this season, Caicedo is making 3.1 tackles and 2.5 interceptions per game in the Premier League. In the 2023/24 campaign, Rodri’s averages were 2.1 and 0.8 respectively.
However, it is unlikely that Caicedo will record the same number of goals and assists as the Spaniard, while he is not making anywhere near the same amount of passes as Rodri was on the road to winning his Ballon d’Or award.
Of course, factors such as how Chelsea and City both play have to be taken into account. City see more of the ball than their Premier League rivals, but whatever the case, Rodri still looks like the more all-round midfielder.
Player Appearances Minutes Goals Assists Tackles per game Interceptions per game Key passes per game Average passes per game Pass success rate
Moises Caicedo (2025/26) 10 855 3 1 3.1 2.5 0.5 57.2 91.1%
Rodri (2023/24) 34 2,937 8 9 21 0.8 1.4 106.9 92.5
Via Moises Caicedo’s WhoScored and Rodri’s WhoScored pages
Nevertheless, Caicedo is still being viewed as an “unbelievable” footballer and rightly so. If the Ecuador international can add more goals to his game and perhaps dictate matches like Rodri, maybe he will not be too far from winning the Ballon d’Or himself one day.
Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo clapping
Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
Enzo Maresca labels Moises Caicedo and Rodri as the ‘two best defensive midfielders in the world’
Following Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, Enzo Maresca had high praise for Caicedo and Rodri.
For the Chelsea manager, they are currently the two top defensive midfielders in football right now.
Speaking to Chelsea’s official club website after the London derby, Maresca said: “I just said to the television interviewer that for me, him and [Manchester City’s] Rodri, in this moment, they are the two best defensive midfielders in the world.”
Today, Caicedo may actually be the very best. His £115m transfer fee now looks like a bargain.