Hello and welcome to our prediction for Team of the Week 5 which will be released on Wednesday this week!
We had some big games the past weekend with results like Liverpool taking the win against Manchester City and Real Madrid celebrating another El Classico win. While the previous Team of the Weeks have been really good I do not expect TOTW 5 to be equal good even though it should have a couple of useable players in it. Keep in mind that we will get another squad of Rulebreaker cards on Friday this week which will most likely be the reason one or two players will miss out on an inform just like we saw last week with Dzeko for example.
STARTING XI
GK: Kepa (Chelsea) - 80 OVR -> 83 OVR:
A double from Mason Mount helped Chelsea record their fifth consecutive victory in all competitions with a 2-0 success at Aston Villa. Kepa pulled off a brilliant performance with stunning back-to-back-to-back saves in the first first half to ensure Chelsea's lead wasn't given up easily. Before the halg was out he may have even pulled off two better ones.
LB: Reinildo (Atlético de Madrid) - 79 OVR ->82 OVR:
Atletico Madrid earned a narrow and hard-fought 1-0 victory against Athletic Bilbao, moving above their opponents into third place in La Liga. Reinildo took Nico Williams out of the game in the first half with his excellent defending, and did the same with Inaki when went out on the right. Created a great chance for Koke early on too and saved one off the line and blocked a shot with his head late on.
CB: Fabian Schär (Newcastle Utd.) - 77 OVR -> 81 OVR:
Manchester United were held to a goalless stalement at home by Newcastel in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon. Schär put in a warrior's performance. Picked up a knock early on but played on to make an important interception to stop a cross into the box on the stroke of half-time. Was in the wars at Old Trafford but kept plugging away a made a crucial slide to put Fred off scoring a late winner.
CB: Joe Gomez (Liverpool FC) - 81 OVR -> 84 OVR:
Manchester City's unbeaten start to the season came to an end as they were defeated 1-0 by Liverpool at Anfield in whaat was an intense clash between the two sides. Aside from one or two moments like Haaland escaping him for a header, he had a great game. Read runs well, clattered tackles he could and kept position nicely. Did well up against Haaland, front-footed and anticipating balls to him, and was also vital with his pace behind Milner on occasions. His best game for an age, and what a time to produce it. Joint-highest match rating with a 9/10 but picked up MOTM. What a card it would be.
CM: Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) - 88 OVR -> 89 OVR:
Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 3-1 in an action-packed encounter on Sunday afternoon with the result seeing them leapfrog their opponents into first place with 25 points from nine games. Kroos was the best player on the pitch both offensively and defensively. Created the first goal after playing through Busquets challenge, recovered the ball 8 times, completed 5 tackles and orchestrated the midfield. There is a chance Valverde could pick up another inform as the 4 weeks gap would be enough but I feel they'll give it to someone else this time, could also be Militao if EA decides to include Kroos in Rulebreaker team 2 on Friday.
CAM: Leroy Sané (FC Bayern) - 84 OVR -> 86 OVR:
Bayern Munich were back to their old ways on Sunday evening as they brushed aside a rather timid SC Freiburg team who simply led Bayern dominate and picked up a comfortable 5-0 win. The German international was sensational in the game. The former Manchester City star first set up Choupo-Moting with a fantastic out-of-the-boot pass that doubled the lead. He then cracked a brilliant curler from 18 yards to announce his arrival again. Choupo-Moting got MOTM from Kicker but with both receiving the same match rating (1.5) I'M going with Sané.
RM: Silas (VfB Stuttgart) - 75 OVR -> 84 OVR*:
It may still be too early in the season to talk about this match being a relegation six-pointer, but Stuttgart certainly played as if it was one and recorded their first Bundesliga win of the season with a 4-1 triumph at home to Bochum. The undisputed Man of the Match was Silas who scored twice, registered an assist and constantly caused problems for the opponents defenders with his dribbling and skills and rightfully was named POTW from Kicker.
LM: Martin Terrier (Stade Rennais FC) - 81 OVR -> 84 OVR:
Laurent Blanc's first game in charge of Lyon ended in a 3-2 defeat at Stade Rennais on Sunday. Former Lyon player Terrier was the outstanding player for Rennes last season and he was the difference here against his old club. Terrier's double included the decisive third goal for the hosts late on and he now has nine goals in all competitions this season.
CAM: Neymar (Paris SG) - 89 OVR -> 90 OVR:
Paris Saint-Germain extended their lead at the top of the table this weekend as they put an end to their three-game winless run in their Classique against Marseille. Neymar scored the only goal of the game, his ninth of the season to open the scoring late on and drew the foul which eventually put the nail in the coffin on Marseille's chances. L'Equipe awarded him with an 8 match rating and even though he just scored once I can see him getting in this week.
ST: Lautaro Martínez (Inter) - 86 OVR -> 87 OVR:
Inter Milan defeated Salernitana on Match Day 10 of the 2022/23 Serie A season at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza with 2-0 in what was a unspectacular game. Italy international Nicoló Barella scored for the second game in a row and got the assist for his side's opening goal but my pick for the inform is Argentinian international Lautaro Martinez who ended his goal drought and scored the opening goal of the game.
ST: Dušan Vlahović (Juventus) - 84 OVR -> 86 OVR:
Juventus ran out eventual winners on Saturday evening in their Derby della Mole clash with Turin rivals Torino. It wasn't exactly the Vintage Vlahovic yet, but definetly a vastly improved performance from the bomber who appeared hellbent on scoring from the get-go. His compatriot Milinkovic-Savic had the upper-hand on two occasions, but the striker eventually latched on Danilo's header to score the vital winner. Even though Gazzetta just handed him a 7 match rating he could be in as the same happened last year with Locatelli who also scored the winner in the derby.
SUBS & RESERVES
SUBS
GK: David Raya (Brentford) - 76 OVR -> 81 OVR:
Brentford returned to winning ways with a 2-0 victory over Brighton & Hove at the Gtech Community Stadium on Friday night thanks to two goals from Ivan Toney. Man of the Match tho was David Raya, the Spaniard did brilliantly to save efforts from Caicedo and Veltman, made a few other important saves before he then made superb stops to deny headers from March and Dunk.
CB: Zubeldia (Real Sociedad) - 78 OVR -> 82 OVR:
Gold defenders have been rare this week except for a few so I expect one or two random inclusions on Wednesday. One could be Real Sociedad's Zubeldia who scored the game-winning goal against RCD Celta on Sunday afternoon.
CDM: Luiz Gustavo (Al Nassr) - 75 OVR -> 81 OVR:
We haven't heard a lot about Luiz Gustavo since he joined Al Nassr but the Brazilian midfielder does make the headlines over there from time to time. This time he was his side's Man of the Match after he scored twice and assised another in Al Nassr's comfortable 4-0 win against Al Fayha.
CAM: Jesper Lindstrøm (Eintracht Frankfurt) - 75 OVR -> 81 OVR:
Eintracht Frankfurt ran out 5-1 winners at home to lowly Bayer Leverkusen and put more misery on the visitors. Having both been in UEFA Champions League action on Wednesday, aslow start might've been expected. However, there was no sign of that, espescially from Eintracht. Danish forward Jepser Lindstrom was a constant threat, caused plenty of problems for Leverkusen's defenders and got rewarded with a goal and MOTM from Kicker.
LM: Myrto Uzuni (Granada CF) - 75 OVR -> 81 OVR:
Granada went back on winning ways after two consecutive La Liga Smartbank draw with a trashing 5-0 at home against Sporting Gijon. There are two strong contenders for an inform from that game, one is Uzuni who scored twice and also registered an assist.
ST: Jonathan David (LOSC Lille) - 79 OVR -> 82 OVR:
LOSC Lille eased to a 3-0 win away at struggling RC Strasbourg Alsace on Friday. The Canadian striker David continued his fine form, scoring two of the goals with one from the penalty spot and is now the league's leading scorer with nine goals to his name already and also surpassed Eden Hazard as Lille's best scorer in Ligue 1. L'Equipe handed him MOTM and an 8 match rating which could see him getting into the side this week.
ST: Guus Til (PSV) - 75 OVR -> 81 OVR:
PSV Eindhoven eased to a 6-1 victory over FC Utrecht on Sunday with three players all netting twice. One of them was Guus Til who played as the central attacker that game and was a constant threat for the opponents. There have been given out a lot of high ratings from VI this week but with Til receiving a 8.5 and POTW and being gold there's no chance I'm not including him.
RESERVES
CB: Youssouf Ndayishimiye (Basaksehir) - 72 OVR -> 79 OVR:
Silver defenders recently have been ignored by EA when it comes to giving out informs so this player will probably miss out again but it's hard to ignore a defender with two goals and a clean sheet. That being said, Ndayishimiye scored both goals in his side's 2-0 win against Istanbulspor.
CAM: Luca Tremolada (Modena) - 68 OVR -> 76 OVR:
Serie B side Modena made it back to back to back wins after a 5-1 trashing against relegation-battling side Como. While centre-back and MOTM Pergreffi not being in FUT I'm going with Tremolada who hasn't done a bad job either, finishing the game with four assists to his name.
RW: James Forrest (Celtic) - 73 OVR -> 79 OVR:
Celtic stormed to a 6-1 win over Hibernian on Saturday and the Hoops remain top of the Scottish Premiership table. James Forrest notched a hat-trick to take his Hoops goal tally to 100 in a performance not many would have anticipated. Was at the heart of every Celtic attack either on or off the ball and was subbed off to standing ovations later on.
ST: Kevin Denkey (Cercle Brugge) - 66 OVR -> 76 OVR:
Cercle Brugge bounced back from their defeat against Gilloise and recorded a convincing 5-1 at home against Eupen. Kevin Denkey was the star of the show that night, finishing the game with three goals to his name and should be seen in the side this week.
ST: Junior Adamu (RB Salzburg) - 69 OVR -> 77 OVR:
There have been a couple of hat-tricks the past weekend and one or two could probably miss out or be the silver star. Junior Adamu scored all three goals for RB Salzburg in their 3-1 victory against Austria and should pick up an inform.
That concludes this week's Team of the Week predictions! What do you make of these predictions? Is there anyone else who should have made the TOTW? Let us know below!
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