Defensive Midfielders
With FIFA calling Emre Can a central midfielder rather than a defensive mid, Liverpool have just two defensive mids on their senior roster: Lucas Leiva and Kevin Stewart. (There’s also Pedro Chirivella, but he’s still in the youth set up and given just a 58 on merit.)
Lucas Leiva /// CONFIRMED rating: 80 /// RTK’S PREDICTED rating: 78
After not playing all the much last season, mostly in a reserve role in the center of defense as well, we expected a drop in the Lucas Leiva stock. Instead, he got an improvement from 79 in FIFA 16 to an 80 in the newest edition of the game.
Lucas played in defense this season as well as in midfield in the League Cup, sticking to his more natural roots.
Kevin Stewart /// CONFIRMED rating: 72 /// RTK’S PREDICTED rating: 71
Ah, so close.
Stewart, after being released from Tottenham, was brought to Liverpool as an older academy product without any furor last summer. He was recalled in January and has been firmly in the first team, with Klopp regularly naming him to the Premier League bench.