Speed plays a big role in FIFA 21. Defenders need to keep up too – here you will find 5 options for your team.
That’s why speed is so important: Of course, all values on a card matter. A striker with weak shooting stats is not helpful, nor is a defender without defending skills. But for nearly all players, the rule is: if the speed is too low, the card is fundamentally hard to use. Such a problem exists with the current Bundesliga POTM in FIFA 21.
This is because much in the match ultimately depends on speed. The best defensive value of your defender is useless if the striker is already ten meters away from you and you can’t catch up to him.
However, fast center-backs are extremely expensive. Here are a few examples:
- The fastest center-back in the game, Kyle Walker, costs a whopping 800,000 coins – which is probably due to his 93 pace rating.
- The Icon Paolo Maldini costs a staggering 5.7 million coins with a pace of 86.
- The Inform variant of Joe Gomez has 84 pace and costs over 500,000 coins.
These 3 examples are extremely high, as they not only have speed but also other very strong stats. They are among the best center-backs in the game.
In this list, we will take a look at a few more players with strong speed stats who are also playable but not excessively expensive.
Ike Opara
Opara has two interesting cards in the game: His regular gold card and a Rulebreakers version. His gold card is already well equipped with 84 pace and costs only 950 coins. His Halloween card has a whopping 88 pace – and also strong stats overall. It currently costs 38,000 coins.
This is still quite reasonable for the values, as comparable players are significantly more expensive. This is probably due to the fact that Opara, being an American from the MLS, is hard to fit into teams: If Opara were in the Premier League, he would certainly be even more expensive. He belongs to a series of special cards that are worth their price.
Lukas Klostermann
The Leipzig defender was in many teams at the game’s release, as hardly any center-back brought as much speed (84) as he did. His price has now shrunk to 1,900 coins, making him a real bargain. Even today, the defender is still playable. By the way: His RTTF card also has a lot of pace and overall great stats. But it’s priced at a hefty half a million.
Jeremiah St. Juste
Even faster than Klostermann is Jeremiah St. Juste, who, as a silver player, may fly under the radar for many. However, the defender costs quite a lot for a silver card: a total of 14,000 coins. This is partly because this year there are many goals that can be completed with silver players. For a silver team, St. Juste is an absolute asset.
Joe Gomez
Joe Gomez has a pace value of 82, which you can easily boost with an Anchor or Shadow chemistry style. Then Gomez not only has a very good speed but is also overall a very strong center-back who can still hold his own in difficult matches. He is probably the best defender on this list. He currently costs you 17,000 coins – a bargain, considering that for a long time, he cost well over 100,000 coins.
Kostas Manolas
Manolas also has a pace rating of 82, which you can boost with Anchor. He also has ideal defensive stats, apart from slightly lacking stamina. Still, Manolas is a reliable support – as long as you play a team with Serie A players. Otherwise, Manolas is hard to integrate, which also explains his low price of 6,000 coins.
Do you need reinforcement in offense – perhaps for set pieces? Then we have here 9 strong free kick takers in FIFA 21 for you.
