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The FUT Champions Weekend League is a frustrating, intense, emotional, rage-filled ride each any every weekend for those who are able to participate on a regular basis. The competition has been the talk of the FIFA community for the last three months and during that time certain trends have emerged, specifically the way players build their squads.
As a veteran of the Weekend League, I’ve come up against every possible squad you can imagine: Superteams valued at over 10 million coins all the way to dirt cheap squads with overpowered players. Obviously, only a small percentage of players can afford to build the mega teams, so you come up against the budget squads a lot more.
One thing you notice after playing so many matches is the recurring players you come up against every weekend. In my experience, here are the 10 most used players in the FUT Champions Weekend League:
Chris Smalling
The FIFA community rarely agrees on anything. Ask any experienced Weekend Leaguer, and they’ll likely tell you that Smalling is one of, if not the best defenders in FIFA 17. His size, strength, and defensive awareness is always a headache to come up against. At only 12-15k, if Smalling isn’t on your back line, you aren’t building your budget team properly.
Julian Draxler
One term you’ll hear a lot in the FIFA community is “The Cheap _______.” Everyone is always on the hunt for the cheaper alternative of the elite players. If you have a Bundesliga or a German squad, you won’t find a better CAM than Draxler. A lot of people say he’s the Cheap Kevin De Bruyne, and those people wouldn’t be wrong. His passing is top notch and his finesse shots from the top of the box are deadly.
Jack Butland
Hugo Lloris? Nah. David De Gea? Nope. Petr Cech? Boo. For the first few months of FUT Champions, Jack Butland was the goalkeeper of choice when building a squad. Despite his 82 rating, he somehow played like the best goalkeeper in the game. Some say he’s been nerfed by EA, but that could just be rumor. Goalkeepers are pretty much interchangeable in this year’s game. Butland will likely do the same job as a 150,000 coin player would.
Anthony Martial
Use him as a winger. Use him as a striker. Just use him. His 82 rated card is one of the best in all of Ultimate Team. He’s got the pace to sprint past anyone and the strength to hold off the best defenders. When he gets in front of goal he rarely misses. At around 20,000 coins, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better value for your money.
Sebastian Giovinco
In reality, someone like Jamie Vardy or Marcus Rashford would go in this slot as Premier League teams are just more popular than anything else. When you do come up against an Italian or MLS team, you’re guaranteed to see the Atomic Ant buzzing around your back line. He is an absolute nightmare to come up against with his pace, dribbling, and finishing.
Ahmed Musa
One of the paciest strikers in the game, Musa has no business being as good as he is. He’s got everything you need in a striker in FUT and he costs less than 2,000 coins. If you look up the term “sweaty” in the FIFA dictionary you’ll have Musa’s gold card staring right back at you.
Kyle Walker
The. Best. Right. Back. In. The. Game.
Renato Sanches
Midfield is the most important aspect in this year’s game. If you can dominate the middle of the field you’ll win the majority of your games. Having fast and strong midfielders i s how you do that and it doesn’t get much better than Renato. He can chase down pretty much anyone on the field and push them off the ball like a sumo wrestler nudging a toddler. He is the complete package as a midfielder. With most teams built for the Premier League, you usually see Sanches coming off the bench as a super-sub.
Raheem Sterling
Sterling’s gold card is meh. It’s not one you see a lot. However, as the first ever Premier League Player of the Month SBC card released, he’s all the rage in the Weekend League. You just aren’t going a weekend without seeing that 95 pace purple card buzzing up and down the right side of the field causing problems and wrecking your defense.
N’Golo Kante
Without a doubt, the most used player in all of the Weekend League is the best midfielder in the game. Kante is unfair and should be banned by EA. He is Renato Sanches times infinity. He’s lightning fast, ridiculously strong, can pick out a pass, and can hit a long range shot from time-to-time. You will see him in at least 20 of your 40 games every weekend because he’s that good.