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Ahead of FIFA 18 being launched, we’ve been poring over the FIFA 18 player ratings to give ourselves – and you – a head start when we fire the game up for the first time.
We’ve looked at the top-rated teams you can build, the players likely to be overpowered and how the best young players are shaping up this year.
What are the top-rated FIFA 18 teams you can assemble?
We’re just looking at overall FIFA 18 player ratings here, with players in their natural position. We know that Mats Hummels might not be considered as playable as some lower-rated centre-backs because of his pace and yes, you could make Cristiano Ronaldo a LM and play him in a 3-4-3 next to Neymar, but you could also theoretically field Robert Lewandowski at CDM without damaging the rating and we think everybody would agree that’s not going to get you very far.
In Ultimate Team, players’ attributes increase and decrease depending on their individual chemistry and the team’s overall chemistry. We set ourselves the task of assembling the top-rated XI where all of the players have maximum chemistry. This results in a 4-3-3 LaLiga/Bundesliga combination, featuring four Real Madrid players, four of Bayern Munich’s squad and three from Barcelona.
If you just want to fire into Career Mode with a big wad of cash though, chemistry is not an issue. What is the top-rated team that you could assemble where the only restrictions are valid formation and natural position?
While the defence and midfield look very different to the Ultimate Team version, the front three is identical with the world’s most expensive player – and former member of Barcelona’s ‘MSN’ – Neymar missing out again because FIFA 18 cover star Cristiano Ronaldo is also classified as a left winger.
We have to mention the Icons too, as PlayStation users will finally get to play with some of the game’s greats: a feature which was only available as ‘Legends’ on XBox in FIFA 17. Icon chemistry works slightly differently as the players don’t have designated clubs, but pop them in their correct position and they will have a 10/10 individual chemistry rating. Rather fittingly, the top rated Icons team is a ‘two up top’ throwback, featuring (the other) Ronaldo and Thierry Henry.
Which are the best FIFA 18 teams in each of the ‘big five’ leagues?
If you want to assemble a team of FIFA 18 players entirely from your favourite league, we’ve got you covered there as well. We’ve calculated the top-rated team you can build using players in their natural positions, with each having a chemistry rating of 100.
The LaLiga team is the best overall and it’s not surprising that it is assembled entirely out of players from just three clubs; Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. That is diverse in comparison to the Bundesliga team, in which Borussia Dortmund duo Lukasz Piszczek and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are the only non-Bayern members.
Which FIFA 18 players could be overpowered this year?
A huge talking point is always who performs better than their FIFA 18 player ratings suggest, and the search will be on for this year’s overpowered bargains. We’ve looked for the players in this year’s game with affordable transfer market prices, whose profiles are the closest match to last year’s ‘FUTTIES’ award winners in each of the eight main playing positions. Unlock a coin boost and all eight could be yours after a handful of matches – a perfect base to build from until you save up for that ‘Team of the Week’ Aguero.
Who are the best youngsters in the FIFA 18 player ratings?
For players who like to build a young team – particularly those committed to a career mode save – we’ve also highlighted the top-rated FIFA 18 players in each age group under 25. One player who has publicly taken EA to task about his overall rating is Dele Alli, even though his rating of 84 makes him the top under-23 player in the game and is higher than Paul Pogba (83) or Harry Kane (77) had at that age.
To find out if Alli has legitimate cause for grievance – and to see how far his rating might rise as he gets older – we compared his ‘real life’ performances to the three higher-rated players in his position to see how he stacks up.
He is already responsible for more league goals per 90 minutes (worked out by combining his goals and assists) than 87-rated Tottenham team-mate Christian Eriksen, so that feels like the low end of his potential, but to reach the giddy heights of an 88 or 89 rating he may need to up his game slightly. Kevin De Bruyne and Paulo Dybala have sustained a slightly higher average output for their clubs over the last three seasons than Alli has for Spurs. However, all three had a lower overall rating when they were Alli’s age, so there is plenty of hope for him yet.
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