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FIFA 22 takes pride in being the most realistic football simulator on the market, with more than 100 leagues, including the Premier League and 17000+ players from the world football.
The game boasts some of the biggest names in world football and does a great job at recreating the players' greatness.
However, like every video game, FIFA 22 also has its own match engine that controls how the football matches operate within the game. This match engine is the main factor of creating an intriguing paradox between game and real life.
While FIFA 22 mostly reflects a player's real-life ability well, there are certain player items who do way better in FIFA 22 than they are doing at the moment in real life.
What is the FIFA 22 meta and is it a fair reflection of Premier League stars?
For non-gamers, meta is a short form for Most Effective Tactics available and in FIFA 22, it refers to the players that perform great in the match engine. The biggest determinant of the potential success of any player item in FIFA 22 is Pace.
Sprint Speed and Acceleration act as major catalysts in determining how good a player is in FIFA 22 and it is important for every position.
To take a simple example, Thiago Silva does much better in real life in the Premier League than in FIFA 22 because he is a slow player item. Meanwhile, Joe Gomez, who is not a guaranteed starter for Premier League giants Liverpool, is a great player item in FIFA 22.
Let's now take a look at five footballers from the Premier League who are viable in FIFA 22 but have been disappointing in real life:
#5 Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Aaron Wan-Bissaka started strongly and soon came to be regarded as a great tackler in the Premier League. Many hailed his ability to tackle accurately while others claimed this was a potential weakness for Wan-Bissaka, a reason for which he has to dive in so frequently.
Of late, Wan-Bissaka has been extremely mediocre and that's putting it generously. His inability to carry the ball makes him unsuitable for a Premier League club like Manchester United.
Although he is a solid RB option in FIFA 22, the English footballer's performances on the pitch in the Premier League have left a lot to be desired. However, Wan-Bissaka is young and that leaves him a lot of room for improvement.
#4 Fred
If there is a survey at the moment about who the Manchester United fans' enemy number one is, Fred will be the most straight forward name. Fred has never really justified the amount of money that Manchester United paid him for and has not recreated the potential he had during his days at Shakhtar Donetsk.
In FIFA 22, Fred is quite pacy for a CDM which makes him valuable to gamers. But while he does okay statistically in video games, real-life Premier League and Champions League matches completely expose his weakness.
The lack of options for Premier League giants Manchester United has resulted in Fred getting so many opportunities.
#3 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is one of the best beginner Premier League player items in FIFA 22. He has great skill, pace, and goal-scoring ability, making him highly sought after within the game. In real life, Aubameyang exhibited those skills quite well until recently.
Aubameyang's start to the 2021-22 Premier League season has been hardly worth mentioning for a player of his caliber. He has netted four goals and grabbed an assist in the Premier League this season. It may not be a terrible record, but Arsenal surely expect more from him.
#2 Timo Werner
Timo Werner appears to have lost his way since switching to the Premier League from German outfit RB Leipzig after Chelsea triggered his release clause. Since then, Werner has not been awful but could have been so much better.
Werner had reasonable returns last season, but he also made glaring misses at junctures that could have cost Chelsea heavily.
The German was unfortunate to pick up an injury in the ongoing season. Before being injured, he made seven appearances in the Premier League, where he has scored one and assisted another.
His stats hardly justify the lethal reputation he built at Leipzig. In FIFA 22, Werner is a great player, and he fits the game better than his Chelsea compatriot Romelu Lukaku.
Werner is a go-to forward for many FIFA 22 players who build Premier League squads in the Ultimate Team with extreme pace and excellent finishing.
#1 Adama Traore
Adama Traore is the fastest player item from the Premier League in FIFA 22. One of the deadliest combos in the game is a player item with simultaneously high stats in pace and dribbling. Traore is an exact testament to that, and despite being mediocre overall, he is found on many Premier League teams on Ultimate Team in FIFA 22.
Traore has played over 650 minutes and made 11 appearances in the Premier League this season for Wolves but is yet to register a goal contribution.
Whatever work on FIFA 22 seems to have not rubbed off in real life as he has lost his starting position with inferior attacking returns in the Premier League so far. It remains to be seen if Traore can rekindle his form.
