The art of defending. This is a position that has become ever more crucial to football, with defenders now contributing to goal-scoring opportunities frequently.

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That's why knowing which ones have topped the lot on EA Sports FC 25 can help make or break a game.

In deciding what overall rating a player earns, EA takes into account their pace, shooting, passing, dribbling, defending and physicality.

The latter two of which are arguably the most important when it comes to being at the back, though passing and dribbling have come more into play in recent years.

Expect to see faces from all over the world, with the likes of Barcelona, Manchester City, PSG, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Lyon and plenty of other big-name football teams having prominent players featured.

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All of these are set to appear across both Career Mode and Ultimate Team.

So, ahead of the game's big release later this month, we've rounded up the best players for every defensive position announced so far in EA FC 25 – including centre-back, right-back and left-back.

Best CB in EA FC 25

The best centre-back in EA FC 25 is Mapi León of Barcelona. This is the second year in a row that the Spanish defender has topped the rankings, despite suffering a meniscus tear that kept her from playing throughout the majority of the season.

The top 10 players in the centre-back position can be found below:

  • Mapi León (Barcelona/Spain) – 89 OVR
  • Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool/Netherlands) – 89 OVR
  • Rúben Dias (Manchester City/Portugal) – 88 OVR
  • Wendie Renard (Lyon/France) – 88 OVR
  • Irene Paredes (Barcelona/Spain) – 88 OVR
  • Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid/Germany) – 88 OVR
  • William Saliba (Arsenal/France) – 87 OVR
  • Marquinhos (PSG/Brazil) – 87 OVR
  • Alessandro Bastoni (Inter Milan/Italy) – 87 OVR
  • Gabriel (Arsenal/Brazil) – 86 OVR

Please note that Inter Milan is known as Lobardia FC in EA FC 25 because of the exclusivity deal between Konami and the Italian football club.

Best RB in EA FC 25

The best right-back in EA FC 25 is Dani Carvajal of Real Madrid. After a stellar year at the Spanish giants that saw the 32-year-old win the Champions League for the sixth time, the La Liga and Supercopa, Carvajal also helped Spain win the European Championship.

The top 10 players in the right-back position can be found below:

  • Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid/Spain) – 86 OVR
  • Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool/England) – 86 OVR
  • Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich/Germany) – 86 OVR
  • Lucy Bronze (Chelsea/England) – 85 OVR
  • Jules Koundé (Barcelona/France) – 85 OVR
  • Ashley Lawrence (Chelsea/Canada) – 85 OVR
  • Achraf Hakimi (PSG/Morocco) – 84 OVR
  • Kyle Walker (Manchester City/England) – 84 OVR
  • Benjamin White (Arsenal/England) – 84 OVR
  • Ellie Carpenter (Lyon/Australia) – 83 OVR

Best LB in EA FC 25

The best left-back in EA FC 25 is Theo Hernández of AC Milan. Known for his blistering pace and attacking presence, the French international – who is also the younger brother of PSG's Lucas Hernández – has risen up the ranks to earn the number one spot, even if Milan missed out on the Serie A title.

The top 10 players in the left-back position can be found below:

  • Théo Hernandez (AC Milan/France) – 87 OVR
  • Sakina Karchaoui (PSG/France) – 87 OVR
  • João Cancelo (Al Hilal/Portugal) – 86 OVR
  • Fridolina Rolfö (Barcelona/Sweden) – 86 OVR
  • Selma Bacha (Lyon/France) – 86 OVR
  • Ona Batlle (Barcelona/Spain – 85 OVR
  • Katie McCabe (Arsenal/Ireland) – 85 OVR
  • Andrew Robertson (Liverpool/Scotland) – 85 OVR
  • Hannah Blundell (Manchester United/England) – 84 OVR
  • Lisa Boattin (Juventus/Italy) – 84 OVR

EA Sports FC 25 is scheduled to launch on 27th September 2024 across PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Windows.

Read more on FC 25:

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