fifaRAWR's Team of the Week Predictions: Week 36
Safe to say that we’re at the stage in the FUT calendar year now where if you’re a fan of the major European leagues, these TOTWs can become a bit shit. The final weekends of Ligue 1, La Liga and Serie A took place this weekend so expect them to dominate my team below… next who, who knows! Probably a Brazilian and American clusterfuck. Enjoy though lads, and if you could remember to leave your suggestions in the comments as well as following myself and FUTWIZ on Twitter and perhaps even sharing this around to your mates, that would be brilliant.
¡Atleti!
Was it just me that spent Saturday afternoon flicking between the FA Cup final and Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid? What an afternoon of football that was and the tension at the Camp Nou was unbelievable and Alexis’ wonderstrike only made it that little bit higher!
Now if it were any other week, Diego Godin would walk straight into this team BUT seeing as the La Liga TOTS will be released tomorrow, we need an alternative. Thankfully Marca came up with the goods, awarding all the Atleti players (at least the ones that weren’t injury stricken) a 9 or 10 match rating thus giving us the pick of the bunch! Step forward Tiago and Juanfran, Tiago was an unmovable wall in Atleti’s midfield and was one of the few to receive a 10 match rating while Juanfran, who I do not think will/should make the La Liga TOTS, also had another brilliant game and picked up a 9 match rating. Of course I could be wrong with my assessment of Juanfran’s TOTS chances, it could indeed be Miranda who is left out of the TOTS and makes this team but that is a gamble I have to take.
Noteable absentees
I had two fairly large problem areas this week; defenders and Strikers. One there was a severe lack of, the other there was an abundance of.
Di Natale – I understand a huge amount of you will have been expecting him this week but he’s not in my team for one reason and one reason alone. His previous IF was too recent. It was an unbelievable way to sign off his career and I would not be upset/annoyed in any way if he made the TOTW, but my reasoning stands.
Argentine Torneo Final – The final round of matches in Argentina took place over the weekend with River Plate being crowned Torneo Final Champions. Fernando Cavenaghi does make my prediction after River smashed Quilmes 5-0 to seal the title, but Christian Ledesma could also make the team after scoring a fantastic goal plus being voted as the MOTM. Mauro Zarate also continued his unbelievable form with a brace in Velez’ 3-2 win over Copa Libertadores Semi-finalists San Lorenzo, but I couldn’t squeeze him into my prediction.
Shakhtar Champions – They may have sealed the deal last week, but they still managed to motivate themselves to a final day victory. Luiz Adriano scored both of Shakhtar’s goals, as he did last week, but like Zarate I couldn’t squeeze him into my prediction this week.
New England Revolution – Scoring five in consecutive weeks is mightily impressive and yet again they have a number of candidates for this week’s TOTW. I’ve opted from Chris Tierney, but Lee Nguyen picked up the MOTM award with a goal and an assist and Diego Fagundez also continued to shine after a poor start to the season.
Team of the Week 36 | Prediction
First XI
GK: Marcelo Grohe (Gremio) – 5 Saves, 1-0 vs Fluminense (76>78)
RB: Juanfran (Atletico Madrid) – Fantastic Performance, 1-1 vs Barcelona (79>82)
CB: Loic Perrin (ASSE) – 2 Goals, 3-1 vs Ajaccio (78>81)
CB: Bakary Kone (Lyon) – 1 Goal, 1-0 vs Nice (74>74)
CM: Tiago (Atletico Madrid) – Fantastic Performance, 1-1 vs Barcelona (80>81)
CDM: Vicente Iborra (Sevilla) – 2 Goals, 2-0 vs Elche (77>79)
RM: Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia) – 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 2-1 vs Celta Vigo (81>84)
RM: Zoran Tosic (CSKA Moscow) – 1 Goal, 1-0 vs Lokomotiv Moscow (76>79)
CAM: Dries Mertens (Napoli) – 2 Goals, 2 Assists, 5-1 vs Verona (80>82)
ST: Amauri (Parma) – 2 Goals, 2-0 vs Livorno (76>78)
ST: Wissam Ben Yedder (Toulouse) – 3 Goals, 3-1 vs Valenciennes (75>79)
Substitutes Bench
GK: Mattias Asper (Mjallby) – 8 Saves, Penalty Save, 1-0 vs Brommapojkarna (64>64)
LB: Chris Tierney (New England Revolution) – 1 Goal, 1 Assist, 5-3 vs Philadelphia Union (63>64)
CAM: PH Ganso (Sao Paulo) – 2 Goals, 2-0 vs Flamengo (77>79)
CAM: Daniel Wass (Evian TG) – 2 Goals, 3-0 vs Sochaux (73>74)
CF: Federico Higuain (Columbus Crew) – 2 Goals, 1 Assist, 3-3 vs Portland Timber (73>74)
ST: Fernando Cavenaghi (River Plate) – 2 Goals, 1 Assist, 5-0 vs Quilmes (70>73)
ST: Andy Delort (Tours) – 3 Goals, 3-0 vs Clermont (66>71)
@fifaRAWR
