To concede as few goals as possible in FIFA 21, you should defend strongly. Here are some tips on how to make defending in FIFA 21 more effective.
How important is defending? Of course, you can try to score as many goals in FIFA 21 as possible so that the opponent doesn’t have enough chances to defeat you. It doesn’t matter if the opponent scores 20 goals as long as you have one more. But the reality looks different.
Usually, matches are closely contested, and every single goal can decide victory or defeat. That’s why it’s important to have a good defense and to prevent goals. Even a few simple tips can help elevate your defensive game to a new level.
In FIFA 21, just like in FIFA 20, you have to do quite a bit for the defense yourself and cannot rely on AI defending. However, every action you take should be well thought out because a mistake can allow the opponent to gain space easily and, in the worst-case scenario, suddenly be free in front of the goal.
Defend with the midfield
To intercept the opponent early, you should start in the midfield by stopping the offensive players from the other side. If your opponent has the ball and is on the way into your half, use your midfielder to close passing lanes and possibly win the ball early through a tackle.
Which values are important? You should have at least one central midfielder with the necessary physical and defensive attributes to be an obstacle for your opponent. A good pace value and sufficient stamina should also be present to keep up with fast strikers for as long as possible.
Keep the center-backs in the defensive line
This tip arises from the first and is crucial. Because: If you manually rush a center-back from your defensive line forward to intercept an opponent, you take a risk. If the opponent uses one or two strong skill moves, your center-back can suddenly be outplayed – leaving you vulnerable at the back. Then, in the worst case, your opponent is only in front of the goalkeeper and can act freely.
How to do better: Use your center-backs more passively and attack the opponent with midfield players. Only at the last moment should the center-back be brought into play if there’s no other way.
You can find some fast center-backs suitable for this here.
A full penalty area is a safe penalty area
In FIFA 21, there is a defensive mechanic that is more essential than in previous years: auto-blocks. This means that your players, depending on their values, block shots quite reliably on their way if they are in the flight path of the ball.
If you have many players standing in front of the goal, your opponent has to find a gap through which they can take a shot. If your center-backs are in the way, there is a good chance that even strong shooters will fail against your defenders’ blocks. Positioning is crucial here: It may be worthwhile to place the center-back more in the potential shot path instead of going for a tackle.
This feature was nerfed with an update, but auto-blocks are still quite effective.
Defend passively
In FIFA 21, the timing of a tackle is extremely crucial. If you attack too hastily or too late, you probably won’t win the ball. Rather, you might cause a penalty, free kick or let the opponent pass by. Patience is required.
How to defend passively: You must pay close attention to the opponent and their movements. You challenge the opponent in a duel until the right moment. This means: You take your defending player and press the L2/LT and R2/RT buttons. Now your player moves with side steps and covers the passing and running paths. Now the opponent has only the option to outsmart you with a clever trick – which isn’t that easy – or to pass the ball.
Use the right stick
Normally, you switch the active player with the L1/LB button. However, you can also use another input: the right stick. Depending on the direction you push, you can actively select the player you want. This gives you the opportunity to get exactly the player you need for a defensive maneuver instead of switching with L1/LB through possibly poorly positioned players.
Defensive tactics
If you generally have problems in defense, you should give your players some defensive instructions.
You should always align them according to your own style of play, but some that have proven effective include:
- “Stay back while attacking” for the full-backs, who otherwise would join the offensive.
- “Stay back while attacking” or “Drop back into defense” for one of your central midfielders. This strengthens the defense instead of focusing on moving forward.
- “Cover center” for CDM/CAM: Using this instruction, your CDMs will not focus on winning the ball in the wide areas, but will cover the central area directly in front of the goal. Especially when you want to intercept opponents who may shoot early or draw through the middle, this instruction is worthwhile.
If you have no problems defending, but the goals just won’t come, then you can find some tips here to create more offensive scoring opportunities.
