It’s that time of year again, when the latest installment of the FIFA series is almost ready to hit our shelves.
You can get it from September 27th, so ask your boss for a sneaky couple of days off so you can sit in your pants and play it until your heart’s content.
The anticipation is building, and the trailers have got fans salivating over the most popular football game ever.
Ratings from Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have all been released, and there’s some big improvements.
Check them out:
Manchester United
As expected, there’s a huge improvement for Marcus Rashford, who has a whopping 76 rating aged just 18, so expect him to rise well into the 80’s before long.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a huge 90 rating, but that’s not enough to surpass David De Gea, who is one of the top goalkeepers on the game at 91.
Interestingly, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is rated higher than Wayne Rooney, while United’s defensive pairing of Eric Bailly and Chris Smalling are an 82 and 85 respectively.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola’s star studded City team is packed with 80+ players, including new signing Ilkay Gundogan at 85, and top rated Sergio Aguero at 89.
Joe Hart is still in the first team on this particular graphic despite being linked with a move away from the Etihad, and whichever club buys him will be getting an 85 rated goalkeeper.
FIFA has also rated Kelechi Iheanacho higher than young rival Marcus Rashford, giving the Nigerian two less than his English counterpart.
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs’ lineup suggests FIFA creators still have faith in Mauricio Pochettino’s men, as they’ve rated the starting XI very strongly.
Erik Lamela is 80, and Toby Alderweireld is at 84 after an excellent season.
Dele Alli’s rating may have been expected to be higher – he’s just one rating ahead of Marcus Rashford, but he should ease into the 80’s after a couple of seasons.
Chelsea
Despite Chelsea’s shocker of a season, they still have one of the finest squads in the new game.
Eden Hazard is high at 89, while new signing Michy Batshuayi is highly rated at 80. N’Golo Kante’s excellent season sees him go from 79 to 81.
Thibaut Courtois is rated higher than Spurs’ Hugo Lloris at 89, which is debatable considering how shaky he looked at times last season, and how good the Frenchman was at White Hart Lane.
Liverpool
Liverpool’s first full season under Jurgen Klopp should be interesting, and FIFA rates the Reds highly.
Philippe Coutinho is a deserved 84, while new signing Joel Matip comes in at 81.
After his shocker at the weekend, it’s no surprise to see Alberto Moreno the lowest rated in the starting XI, although he’s still pretty high at 77.
Not sure Klopp will be playing 4-4-2 this season though.
Arsenal
Arsenal fans will be pleased to know Mesut Ozil is still one of the best number 10’s on the game at 88, although perhaps not so happy that Olivier Giroud is as high as 82.
Elsewhere, Alex Iwobi looks a bit low at 69, while Nacho Monreal is 80, and Jack Wilshere 81.
One of their transfer targets, Alexandre Lacazette, is rated 85 at Lyon. Although for now, you’ll just have to imagine the Frenchman in the Arsenal team Gunners fans…
Leicester City
Premier League champions Leicester have had a fair few improvements, thanks to their incredible achievement last season.
Jamie Vardy reaches the 80 mark, while snubbed England man Danny Drinkwater is up at 78.
And if you’d told Wes Morgan that he’d ever be rated 78 on a FIFA game, he’d have laughed in your face.
In case you were wondering, the top five players on the game are:
- Lionel Messi, 94
- Cristiano Ronaldo, 93
- Neymar, 91
- David De Gea, 91
- Luis Suarez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 90
So there you go, happy gaming!
