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#2 Roberto Firmino (Brazil)
Brazil manager Tite has an extremely difficult task of selecting the forward line that comprises of Neymar, Willian, Philippe Coutinho, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmino and Douglas Costa.
After years of under-performance and the loss of the Brazilian style and swagger of football, Tite changed the system around and introduced a young Gabriel Jesus who was still playing for Brazilian side Palmeiras.
Jesus immediately set the ground running and he's been consistent ever since for his national team, scoring 10 goals in just 19 appearances.
More than the goals, the Manchester City forward is important to their system as he allows the likes of Neymar and Coutinho to come into their own. Roberto Firmino remained as the option from the bench thanks to his consistent showings for Liverpool.
Things changed in 2017-18 though as Firmino played a massive role in Liverpool's run to the Champions League final, having plundered 27 goals for them in the season. The Brazilian played as the false nine and allowed the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Coutinho to flourish around him.
His intelligent movement and link up play was crucial to Liverpool forming the devastating attacking line-up which is considered as one of the best in the world.
There were calls for Tite to select Firmino as the man up front after Firmino scored in the pre-World Cup friendly against Croatia, but the manager decided to stick with the tried and testing attacking line-up.
Brazil have found it difficult to open up the opposition in the first two games, and Jesus in particular has looked far from his usual self despite working extremely hard in both games.
Neymar has been battered, bruised and brought to the ground with crunching tackles and fouls. Willian has had the hardest time of the attacking unit as he hasn't had the space to run at defenders like he enjoys doing.
Coutinho has been their savior in both games as he scored the opener in their draw in the first game and netted an injury time winner in a hard second match against Costa Rica.
In both games, Brazil's attacking play had a lot more purpose after the introduction of Firmino as they looked bright towards the closing stages of their draw against Switzerland where the Liverpool man was at the heart of their best attacks.
It was the same in the second game to as his arrival freed up space for the other attackers and it was his knockdown that Coutinho latched on for the vital injury-time winner.
Firmino has made a major case for his selection in the eleven in place of the struggling Gabriel Jesus, on who pressure is building with every passing game. The attack is crying out for Firmino's intensity and tenacity up front and his ability to create spaces for his teammates.
It will be interesting to see if Tite decides to back his young gun or if he goes to Firmino as his first-choice. The other option might be to move Coutinho to the right side of the attack, where he started under boss Tite and bring Firmino on for the struggling Willian.
All stats via transfermarkt
