EA FC 25‘s Ultimate Team Team of the Week 19 has dropped and there is, unsurprisingly, a buffet of brilliance on offer from the players who made the cut. With this article, I’ll take a look at some of the standouts among standouts on the Team of the Week, as well as singling out a player who was left off the team that certainly feels like he should be there.
These are some of the standout footballing performances you may have missed that led to this week’s TOTW selections.
EA FC 25 Team Of The Week 19 Highlights
Darwin Nunez Keeps The Liverpool Machine On Pace
While those around them have hit similar wobbles, there may be cause for mild concern as Liverpool’s sizable lead atop the Premier League, whilst intact, has fallen off hard in the difficult winter period. While their lead remains sizeable, it’s not quite as unimpeachable as it looked when they were taking three points seemingly every time. With four draws in their prior seven matches, Liverpool looked set to make it ten points dropped in eight games before Nunez decided to try his hand at being a super sub.
Nunez’s year hasn’t gotten off to a stellar start, with the center forward likely fancying himself for more than two league goals through the team’s first 20 league matches. A stoppage time brace against Brentford to turn a draw into a win is no guarantee of further positive exploits, but you couldn’t ask for a much better springboard to try to restore your form, and Liverpool may just be an uncatchable runaway winner if they can get another attacker firing on all cylinders for the run-in.
Ella Toone Takes The Derby Game Ball For United
Dear United fans: If seeing Liverpool happy (and the thought of a non-quarantine Premier League crown they actually get to celebrate with fans) makes you sick, take solace in knowing you had your own star performance this weekend with Ella Toone leading Manchester United WFC to a big derby match victory. Facing off against Manchester City, Toone stole the show in a game with a lot of fun action to take in. When the dust settled, six goals had hit the back of the net, four of them for the red side of Manchester, three of them coming off Toone’s foot.
This match wasn’t just a big deal because of local bragging rights — it’s also a six-pointer in what’s shaping up to be an absolute dog fight in the table in the Women’s Super League. While Chelsea are all but out of reach, in a position where they could lose to all three of their closest chasers and, by simply handling business against the bottom side, would only need none of the three to capture all 33 points still on offer to lock-up the title. Instead, United and City are battling Arsenal for the final two Champions League spots. The win kept United locked up with Arsenal, trailing only on goal difference, while allowing both teams to leap frog City, leaving the Cityzens as the odd-team out at the season’s midpoint.
The Spot Kick Heroics Of James Trafford
The good news for Sunderland, one of four teams battling for two automatic promotion spots in the Championship? You just recorded a shutout while earning two penalties in a critical six-pointer against fellow promotion frontrunners Burnley. The bad news? James Trafford was there.
Trafford stopped both of the penalties, leaving Sunderland stunned. This, partnered with keeping his goal protected the rest of the match, meant that Burnley held on for a 0-0 draw that may prove critical by season’s end. While a Sheffield United win saw the Blades leapfrog Burnley, things could have been worse. A loss would have seen Burnley not only fall a further point adrift of Sheffield United and leaders Leeds United, but also fall behind Sunderland, too, with the latter buoyed by the additional two points of a win. That critical point, and the potentially critical denial of Sunderland, is all thanks to Trafford and pulling off the unlikely not once, but twice.
Justin Kluivert Powers Bournemouth Into The Top-Four
Sunderland weren’t alone in their Team of the Week recipient misery, however, as arch rivals Newcastle United also saw an opponent hang a spot-earning performance on them, this time from Justin Kluivert. AFC Bournemouth have been flying in headier air than they’re used to in January, being one of the many teams to join the moshpit that is the lower European places and Premier League midtable. With so many teams compressed so closely together, a good or bad run can see a team shooting up or down the table accordingly. And a six-match winning streak for Newcastle had launched them from 11th-most points after 15 games into the top four through 20.
But Kluivert and Bournemouth said “not so fast.” A hat trick for the Dutchman was all Bournemouth needed to thump Newcastle 4-1. The result saw Newcastle fall back out of the top-four — coupled with a Chelsea victory — but also put Bournemouth right on Newcastle’s tail, just a point behind them and Manchester City. After battling relegation in their first year back in the top league and finishing 12th last year, Bournemouth has eyes on another step forward — European qualification. And this win will go a long way toward helping them get there.
Joakim Mæhle’s Mixed Week Is Good Enough
Not everything that happens in the world of football takes place in England, as Joakim Mæhle turned in an interesting case study in how having multiple games in a week can be a real boon when trying to find your way onto an EA FC 25 Team of the Week squad. If you simply checked out his weekend performance, you may be confused what got the Dane on the elite list in the first place. A 3-2 loss to Bayern is hardly a disastrous result for a Wolfsburg side dwelling in a German midtable that has quality, but is a clear step back of a rejuvenated Bayern side, who look set to overcome employing Harry Kane to reclaim their place atop the German pyramid. But Mæhle doesn’t jump off the sheet, either. No goals. No assists. A card. Poor passing completion and generally mediocre post-match ratings.
So, how does a player with that game make an elite shortlist of (theoretically) world class football performances? By being a star performer in a midweek thumping. In a match where Wolfsburg were looking for anything in terms of points, Mæhle and company made sure they came home with all three of them with a 5-1 mauling over Borussia Monchengladbach. For his part, Mæhle showed out a lot more this time. With two goal contributions and a jump of more than 16-points in pass completion, Mæhle drew rave reviews for his performance in leading Wolfsburg to the crucial win as he and his team look to chase down the European places just above them in the table.
Who Was Overlooked? – Amad Diallo (Manchester United)
When looking for players overlooked for honors, it’s not often you worry Manchester United is not getting a fair shake. In a Team of the Week heavy on England-based players, it would seem like this spot should go to some unknown performer overlooked in a less-watched league. But did you see what Amad Diallo did for United this weekend? I’d ask how you could possibly deny that kind of performance, except the people picking the Team of the Week sure did.
The situation at United has been at various stages of dire for over a decade. To make matters worse, the new tenure of Ruben Amorim has not been off to a flying start. Things weren’t looking any better over the weekend either with United heading into the final ten minutes against a Southampton team just trying not to be among the five worst in Premier League history. Then Amad Diallo happened.
The bounce on his initial shot was fortunate, but the run to get there and finish on the rebound was anything but. A brilliant give-and-go created the latter and propelled United into the lead before some active pressing in the waning minutes wrapped up the hat trick and the match. Suddenly, everything is rosy at Old Trafford. At least until the next time someone cruelly makes them actually play another match.
Those are my choice selections from this week’s Team of the Week. Who were your standout performers on the squad and who do you feel got unfairly overlooked?
Published: Jan 23, 2025 4:52 PM UTC