Who are the Best Budget Centre Backs in "FIFA 19 Ultimate Team"?

This article is the second of a series of articles in which I explore the 5 best budget options at each position.This will be an article based on the 5 best budget Centre Backs within FIFA 19 Ultimate Team. Along the way ,I hope to provide a metric in which you can judge the effectiveness of a player yourself for future cards that are released.

Understanding Centre Backs

Centre Backs fall into two main roles. They are what I call "Stoppers" and "Covering". Stoppers are tall, physical centre backs who use that physicality to pressure attackers and are effective when the ball/opponent is close to them. Covering Centre backs are usually (but not always) slightly smaller, and more agile. They are quick, and sweep the balls in behind up, and are more effective when they have distance to cover.

I always suggest that players diversify at the Centre Back role. It is a perfectly fine tactic to have two of one player type, for example, two physical Centre Backs, or two quick centre backs, but I always believe having one of each is optimal. Suggestions at the high end of Ultimate Team are players like Team of the Year Virgil Van Dijk, I would describe as a "Stopper" and Future Star Eder Militao I would describe as a "Covering" defender.

I will be suggesting two players from the Stopper role, and three from the Covering role, as I believe the Covering role is more highly sought after, due to the high pace which FIFA is currently played at.

For stoppers, the Primary stats required are:

• Interceptions
• Marking
• Standing Tackle
• Strength
• Aggression

With a secondary focus placed on

• Jumping
• Reactions
• Pace

Height and body type also play a crucial role in these players efficacy, due to their model being able to reach further and dominate the physical game.

For covering Centre Backs, the primary stats we are looking at are:

• Interceptions
• Standing tackle
• Pace
• Marking
• Agility.

Secondary important stats are:

• Reactions
• Strength
• Balance.

Height and body type are not as important for these players, but it is always a bonus. The high agility, as well as pace, allows them to turn quicker and react quicker to the ball being behind, as well as using their natural pace to catch would be attackers.

Finally, for both types it is very much preferable to have a High defensive workrate. This means the player will simply do more in defence, which is obviously desirable. The perfect work-rate would be Low attacking work rate and High defensive work rate, but I do not believe there is a significant difference between L/M/H workrates offensively for your centre back ,as they have the stay back whilst attacking instructions anyways.

Key

UCL Live: Uefa Champions League Live Card

CL: Champions League

IF: In form

FUTBIRTHDAY : Promotion card for FIFA's 10th Birthday.

(x): Stat with Chemistry style, 10 chemistry on player and 100 chemistry on team.

89 IF Koulibaly (Stopper)

Key stats:

• Height: 6'2
• Interceptions : 90 (99)
• Marking : 93 (99)
• Standing Tackle : 90 (95)
• Strength : 97 (97)
• Aggression : 90 (91)
• Pace : 74 (86)

Suggested Chemistry Style : Shadow

First on the list is In Form Koulibaly. The Stopper defender has 99 Interceptions and marking, and is in the high 90's for both Strength and aggression without chemistry styles. What's also perfect about this card is the fact he has slightly lower pace, but naturally high physicality, means he can use the Shadow Chemistry style (which I believe is actually very overpowered due to the 15 acceleration it provides) and still be stronger than most strikers. He has a high defensive work-rate, and stands at 6'2, which is around average to above average for a centre back.

Playing in the Serie A also brings his price down comparatively to what he would be in the Premier League, and that is why he is under my budget when I do believe his stats should make him more expensive. He also has a weak link to 89 Donnarumma, who is on my list as the number 1 budget keeper.

Unfortunately, you would have to build a Serie A section of your team to use him effectively, however, he does get strong links to Mertens and the 91 SBC Hamsik, who could be used to avoid chemistry issues.

81 IF Eder Militao (Covering)

Key stats:

• Height: 6'1
• Interceptions : 74 (84)
• Standing Tackle 79 (84)
• Marking : 80 (90)
• Pace : 83 (94)
• Agility : 81

Suggested chemistry style : Shadow

I honestly can't speak enough about how underrated this card, and his upgrade the Future Stars Eder Militao, are. They are almost the perfect covering centre back, due to the fact his original card used to be a right back, therefore he has way higher agility and pace than is common for centre backs of his calibre.

Although on the surface his defensive stats do not look great, again, with the shadow chemistry style he turns into an insane player. The pace, coupled with the agility and defending stats, makes him a nightmare for players who want to play in behind your defensive line, and I have lost count how many times he has caught up strikers who should be in for a guaranteed goal. He comes in at just 26% of the budget at the time of writing, which is absolutely insane, and I recommend anyone making a budget team to use him.

Although he is in the Liga NOS, he gets a hyper link with Alex Telles, a fantastic budget right back, who plays for the same club and has the same nationality. This allows them both to basically slot into any team, without much change necessary.

86 FUT Birthday Hernandez (Covering)

Key stats:

• Height: 6'0
• Interceptions : 81 (91)
• Standing Tackle 89 (99)
• Marking : 84 (99)
• Pace : 94 (94)
• Agility : 79 (89)

Suggested chemistry style : Guardian

Although admittedly at the time of writing, he comes in just a squeak over budget, this card is so incredibly insane for its cost I had to include it. Using the little known chemistry style guardian, this card goes nuclear in terms of being a covering Centre Back. With 89 agility, 94 pace and max defending stats in the ones we outlined, It is unbelievable that this card is so cheap. Another wing back turned centre back, the natural pace allows you to diversify chemistry styles away from Shadow, and that lets us upgrade his agility to incredible heights as a defender.

Being in La Liga and French, he has fantastic chemistry links to players such as Varane and Courtois, who are staple defensive options within the league, as well as branching out into hybrids using his French nationality (who's players are incredibly popular this year)

85 Virgil Van Dijk (Stopper)

Key Stats:

• Height: 6'4
• Interceptions : 85 (95)
• Marking : 84 (94)
• Standing Tackle : 88 (93)
• Strength : 92
• Aggression : 81
• Pace : 71 (84)

Suggested Chemistry Style : Shadow

Although it is probably a surprise to absolutely nobody, I had to include Virgil Van Dijk due to his utter dominance within FIFA and real world football, in the exact role of stopper I'm describing. He received a winter upgrade to an 88 from 85, however, his 85 is now under 100k so falls perfectly within my parameters in this article. Standing at 6'4, with 92 strength, as well as 90+ in the key defensive stats, he'll be so difficult to bypass if the ball is near him. Pair him with a covering centre back, and you have an incredible partnership that will deny a multitude of the opponents ways of attacking.

Being within the premier league, he is not too difficult to link, and obviously has strong links to Liverpool players, and weak links to dutch and premier league players. Allisson would bring him to full chemistry alongside a couple of Premier league players, and the IF Wijnaldum also is a hyper link (same nation, club and league).

82 IF Djene (Covering)

Key Stats :

• Height: 5'9
• Interceptions : 88 (98)
• Standing Tackle 88 (93)
• Marking : 74 (84)
• Pace : 80 (93)
• Agility : 81

Suggested chemistry style : Shadow

Our final inclusion on the list is Djene. Now, I know what you're thinking. He's 5'9. And this is true. However, on a budget, this card is absolutely perfect for the covering role we described earlier. At just 19% of the budget, it's a steal. He's incredibly quick, has the agility and reactions to change directions and pursue the players in behind. It is paramount that you pair him with a Stopper centre back, who can deal with the aerial threats and dangers, but I think as an extremely well equipped budget player, this card is very much ignored.

Being within La Liga, he has great natural links to that league, and although his nation is terrible for linking, you can just insert him between other players from the league and be fine. Whilst researching this article, and with the requirements I had in place, you unfortunately have to sacrifice something to get what is required, and in Djene's case, it's height. He does have 86 jumping however, so I would compare him to cards like Cannavaro, if you were looking for how he plays.

Honorable Mentions

• 75 Ike Opara (Covering) - Whilst Opara has some great stats, the MLS league and difficulty linking made me not include him in this list.
• 84 CL Kimpembe (Covering) - Another close contender for inclusion, it was a toss up between Kimpembe and Djene. Although Kimbembe would be a safer option, I found myself leaning to Djene simply for the criteria I outlined, and granted height might be an issue, I could've quite easily included Kimpembe in my top 5.
• 90 Godin (Stopper) A card I used in my first FUTCHAMPS qualifiers (where I went 3-3), Godin ticks all the boxes of a Stopper, with his fantastic defending and physical. He is let down more than others by his pace however, and the options included where more well rounded on secondary stats.
• 89 Carniball Bonucci (Stopper) - The final honourable mention is Carniball Bonucci, and although on face value at 6'3 and fantastic defensive stats, he does have slightly low physical and atrocious pace, which forced him off the list in favour of Koulibaly and Virgil Van Dijk.