Wrapping things up, we have the Team of the Year defenders anchoring our analysis. It is a Liverpool-heavy group, so let’s get to chatting about some of the stars of the EPL.
Team Of The Year Defender Analysis – Virgil van Dijk
Number Of Other Cards
- Base gold/Champions League – 90 overall – 475K
- Team of the Week 12 – 91 overall – 750K
- Team of the Year Nominee – 91 overall – 720K
Chemistry Style Recommendation: I want to put a Shadow on this card for the memes, but I think Engine makes the most sense. You smooth out his balance and agility a bit more, and you still get some pace upgrades in the process.
The first star here is of course Virgil van Dijk. He is going for between 3 million and 3.25 million coins, according to FUTBin. He is found on almost any “meta” team out there, and it’s understandable because he’s a monster. You’re getting crazy pace and physicality on this card when compared to his base gold card. Of course, that base gold card was already awesome so this is just icing on the cake.
He has two-star skills, three-star weak foot, medium defensive work rates and medium attacking work rates. These are all fine, and I know they’re fine because nothing stopped this card previously. It’s also always strange when we start getting CBs with insane pace, but that’s where we’re at now in the FUT life cycle for the season. Overall, I would pay whatever it takes to get this card. He’s a must-have and probably my favorite player from this whole Team of the Year.
Team Of The Year Defender Analysis – Matthijs de Ligt
Number Of Other Cards
- Base gold/Champions League – 85 overall – 12.5K
- Ones To Watch – 86 overall – 32K
- Team of the Year Nominee – 86 overall – 22K
- Team of the Week – 86 overall – 28K
Chemistry Style Recommendation: Shadow. I don’t think it’s needed on van Dijk, but with de Ligt you get him to 91 acceleration and fully max out his defending stats to all 99s to make him an insanely mobile big man anchoring your backline.
Joining his Dutch teammate, de Ligt is the other CB here. He is the “consolation” prize at just 96 overall, and he’s going for about 850-920K as of now. He does not have as much mobility as van Dijk, but he’s still an absolute beast. It’s also interesting to see him with these ratings because he’s basically a whole new card.
He was already a meta pick as a Dutch player in Serie A, but this version of his card just puts him in a whole new class. He has two-star skills, four-star weak foot, high defensive work rates and medium attacking work rates. If his price remains below 1 million coins, then he remains one of the best values out there considering what he brings to the table.
Team Of The Year Defender Analysis – Andrew Robertson
Number Of Other Cards
- Base gold/Champions League – 85 overall – 31K
- Team of the Year Nominee – 86 overall – 98K
- Team of the Week – 86 overall – 160K
Chemistry Style Recommendation: Sentinel. You could maybe focus on his long passing a bit instead, but maxing out his defense while making him even more physically dominant is the way I would go.
Returning to the Liverpool party now, Robertson was already in the meta as the go-to EPL LB. It appears nothing will change as this card remains the best EPL LB. He is going for 800K or so, and I’m surprised it’s not a little higher.
That being said, I do think you can get most of the positives out of this card in the gold version already, so perhaps that’s why. He’s got great pace already with that card, and you can use a Shadow to get him where he needs to be if you really want to crank him up further. Either way, he’s going to be able to push the ball down the wing and be a brute stopping runs as well.
He has three-star skills, a two-star weak foot, high defensive work rates and high attacking work rates. In other words, that 99 stamina will be put to good use here.
Team Of The Year Defender Analysis – Trent Alexander-Arnold
Number Of Other Cards
- Base gold/Champions League – 83 overall – 9K
- Team of the Year Nominee – 84 overall – 30K
- Team of the Week 2 – 85 overall – 58K
- Team of the Week 16 – 86 overall – 84K
Chemistry Style Recommendation: Sentinel. The same reasoning applies here as it did for Robertson. It does not quite max out his defending, but he’s already got great pace and doesn’t need a boost to it.
It seems like the extra hype went to Alexander-Arnold over Robertson because AA’s price is 1.1 million coins right now. I think the Kevin De Bruyne logic applies here where people are stoked to be able to use this card as AA’s been playing second fiddle to Kyle Walker most of the season. Now he’s the clear top choice at RB in the EPL, and people are paying the extra coins to check him out. He’s also obviously a green link to van Dijk, which doesn’t hurt.
He also has three-star skills, a four-star weak foot, medium defensive work rates and high attacking work rates. He may get a little overeager on offense, but that’s fine because he’s got 99 stamina and enough pace to get back into the play. He’s a complete package, and he’s going to be just as much of a problem as Robertson to overcome on both ends when working that sideline.
Team Of The Year Defender (Goalie) Analysis – Alisson
Number Of Other Cards
- Base gold/Champions League – 89 overall – 35K
- Team of the Year Nominee – 90 overall – 100K
Chemistry Style Recommendation: Basic
I don’t have a ton to say about any goalie and that remains the same here. He is going for about 450-475K as of now. You can max out his stats with the Basic chemistry style, which is cool, but I don’t know how much it matters.
He should be good on crosses, and you just hope he doesn’t botch any 50/50 balls when he comes out to punch the ball. Otherwise, he will sometimes stand on his head, and you will still need to manual him in some situations if you want to stop certain shot types.
