To the uninitiated, the FIFA video game franchise is a bit silly. People get genuinely worked up about arbitrary ratings assigned to animated characters as EA release updated ratings with a new edition of its game. However, debating the merits of FIFA ratings is a fun activity for many people, and there is something to be said about what the ratings can reveal about a team — they’re a rough barometer of perception, providing insight into how people expect the team to perform.1
For Liverpool, the perception is clearly that top four is not likely this season. EA revealed the top 50 players in its new game and not one Liverpool player made the cut, despite the incredible season that Philippe Coutinho is coming off of. It’s a bit laughable to keep Coutinho out of the top 50, and the complete absence of Liverpool players from the list emphasizes the underdog role that the team finds itself in once again.
For comparison, Bayern Munich lead the pack with nine players in the top 50, while Manchester City and Chelsea both have five, according to the Echo.
FIFA 16 is set to initially release on September 22nd.