FIFA 16 Team of the Week Predictions: Week 8

15/23 last week, slightly disappointing to be honest; let’s see if we can do any better this time out!

Mersey-less

Both sides on Merseyside managed big wins at the weekend and both matches included some outstanding individual performances. We’ll begin at Stamford Bridge where the red half, Liverpool, took on an under fire Jose Mourinho and his underperforming Chelsea side. Chelsea started the game well, Ramires netting after just three minutes in what was a relatively quiet first half, that was until the third minute of injury time. It was a cracking finish from little Philippe Coutinho and it set the tone for the rest of the game; Coutinho would go on to add a second and claim the Man of the Match award, with Christian Benteke sealing the win late on – a mention to Mamadou Sakho as well, who has been outstanding for the past few fixtures.

As for the Evertonian half, they scored six against a Sunderland side that seemed to show up to the second half minus their back line, and the Blues ran riot. Ross Barkley, Deulofeu and Romelu Lukaku all has fantastic games, however the star of the show was most certainly the Ivorian Arouna Kone. He had a hand in four of the six goals, netting three for himself whilst teeing up a teammate for another. Where do Sunderland and Big Sam go from here?!

Golden Goalkeepers

With this new 23 player team of the week, we usually have a choice – to include two goalkeepers, or three? Well, this week, I’ve opted for four. Why? Because leaving out any of these guys would be an injustice. We’ll begin with Samir Handanovic, who made nine saves for Inter Milan against Roma to claim a very impressive “8” rating from Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. We then have Jack Butland who has been in incredible form as of late and made a further six outstanding saves at Newcastle; could Joe Hart’s England spot be under fire for the upcoming friendlies, especially given the City goalkeeper’s mistake at the weekend? Portuguese shot stopper Anthony Lopes was one of the star performers in France over the weekend and he, like Handanovic, received an “8” rating, but this time it was from the French newspaper L’Equipe.

However, this week’s star man between the sticks is without doubt Colo-Colo goalkeeper Justo Villar. The number of saves this man made to deny Universidad de Chile reached double figures and that’s not all; the Paraguayan international thought he’d be unbeatable from 18 yards too, saving a Patricio Rubio spot kick! Not a bad day’s work that…

Enjoy Folks! #PACKPARTY

First XI

GK: Samir Handanovic (Inter Milan) – 9 saves, 1-0 vs Roma

RB: Maicon (Roma) – 1 goal & 1 assist, 3-1 vs Udinese

CB: Nicolas N’Koulou (Marseille) – Great performance, 1-0 vs Nantes

LB: Oscar Wendt (Borussia Monchengladbach) – 1 goal, 4-1 vs Hertha Berlin

RM: Juan Cuadrado (Juventus) – 1 goal & 1 assist, 2-1 vs Torino

CM: Sergi Roberto (FC Barcelona) – 2 assists, 2-0 vs Getafe

CM: Bruno (Villarreal) – Great performance, 2-1 vs Sevilla

LW: Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) – 2 goals, 3-1 vs Chelsea

RW: Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Borussia Dortmund) – 1 goal & 1 assist, 3-1 vs Werder Bremen

ST: Arkadiusz Milik (Ajax) – 2 goals & 2 assists, 6-0 vs Roda

LW: Arouna Kone (Everton) – 3 goals & 1 assist, 6-2 vs Sunderland

Substitutes Bench

GK: Jack Butland (Stoke City) – 6 saves, 0-0 vs Newcastle

CB: Michael Raynes (Carlisle United) – 2 goals, 3-2 vs Yeovil Town

LB: Fabian Monzon (Boca Juniors) – 1 goal, 1-0 vs Tigre

CAM: Mohamed Wael Larbi (GFC Ajaccio) – 2 goals, 2-0 vs Bordeaux

RW: Inaki Williams (Athletic Bilbao) – 2 goals, 3-1 vs Real Betis

ST: Roberto Gutierrez (Universidad Catolica) – 3 goals, 5-2 vs Cobresal

ST: Yoshinori Muto (Mainz 05) – 3 goals, 3-3 vs FC Augsburg

Reserves

GK: Anthony Lopes (Lyon) – 3 saves, 1-0 vs Troyes

GK: Justo Villar (Colo Colo) – 10+ saves, including a penalty save, 2-0 vs Universidad de Chile

CDM: Taras Stepanenko (Shakhtar Donetsk) – 2 goals, 7-1 vs Zorya

LW: Viktor Fischer (Ajax) – 2 goals & 2 assists, 6-0 vs Roda

ST: Sebastian Andersson (Djurgardens IF) – 3 goals, 4-2 vs GIF Sundsvall

Squad Link: http://www.futwiz.com/en/custom-squad/13713

@Rawrdrigoo