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These FIFA 19 Squad Battles tips will help you earn some great rewards
How to dominate FIFA Ultimate Team’s primary single-player mode.
Last year’s addition of Squad Battles to the FIFA franchise went down a treat, injecting the ever-popular Ultimate Team mode with a hefty dose of single-player action. The mode, which sees you play multiple games per day against AI-controlled squads, offers generous rewards based your performances over the course of a week.
Squad Battles hasn’t changed significantly since its introduction in FIFA 18, but there are still plenty of new and improved ways to achieve success with it. If you’re hoping to rank as high as possible and acquire the very best rewards, the following tips will help.
1. Pick a balanced difficulty level
You'll net plenty of points for winning on Legendary
© EA Sports
The difficulty level you choose dramatically affects how many points you can earn per game, so for the most part, it's worth challenging yourself. That said, losing at any level isn’t worth the drastic reduction in points – over 1000 points per-game in some cases.
It’s crucial to ensure that you're winning most of your games. Most players opt for anything from Professional to Legendary – we suggest avoiding Ultimate difficulty unless you’re a very high-level player. Keep in mind that the quality of the team you face (as well as their chemistry) has a big effect on your chances of beating them, too.
2. Build a physical side
The biggest key to success on the pitch is curating a dominant side. Pace was king in last year’s game, but physical stats are just as, if not more important this time around. You'll need to be winning as many 50/50 battles as possible, so fitting your squad with good strength and tackling abilities is a great way of getting the upper hand.
It's worth prioritising a competent shot-stopper, commanding centre-back and prolific striking threat as a starting point. Spreading the play from wing-to-wing can also wonders against the AI, so be sure to equip your wide areas with pacy dribblers.
3. Focus on goals and clean sheets
You earn additional points for shots on target as well as goals
© EA Sports
It’s tempting to run the clock down when you’re leading. But doing so isn’t the best idea, as you can make a whole bunch of extra points by racking up the goals. Your points tally increases by 40 points every time you hit the net (up to five times per game), allowing you to acquire additional points and rank even higher on the weekly leaderboards.
The other big consideration needs to be clean sheets. You get an extra 75 points if you’re able to prevent your team from conceding, and that’s a hefty bonus when you consider that conceding goals normally leads to a reduction in points as well.
4. Manage your games wisely
There are up to 45 games to be played in any single week in Squad Battles. That’s quite a selection, particularly if you’re hoping to partake in other modes such as Ultimate Team’s new Division Rivals component. As such, you need to manage your time and Squad Battles schedule wisely.
For example, you can play up to four games per day during weekdays. But if you’re too busy to complete Monday’s allocation, that’s OK – you can carry them over to Tuesday. Games can only be carried over for a period of one round (24 hours on weekdays, 8 hours on weekends), however, so plan accordingly.
5. Practice with Featured Squads
Featured Squads are usually packed with talent
© EA Sports
Typically, you can take on Featured Squads every week as one-time only challenges, selected by professional footballers, FIFA players and celebrities. You earn a pre-determined set of points for taking part in them, so no multipliers are in play.
The best thing about these challenges is that they offer a low-risk method of practice. You’re still afforded a generous amount of points even when losing, so Featured Squads are a great way of testing yourself with higher difficulty levels if you so choose. Alternatively, drop the difficulty and guarantee some easy points to kick off the new week.
6. Take advantage of fresh legs
It’s easy to neglect substitutions in Ultimate Team given the nature of them – they require stamina boosts and contract cards, which often feels unnecessary. But fresh legs can regularly prove the difference between winning and losing, particularly against the AI.
We suggest equipping your bench with a set of pacy attackers that can devastate opposition defences in the closing moments of a game. This is also a great opportunity to put loan players from the EAS FC Catalogue and Squad Building Challenges to use, taking advantage of high-rated stars that might otherwise remain dormant in your club.
7. Push for an Elite ranking
You’ll need to win regularly to reach the Elite level
© EA Sports
The ultimate goal in Squad Battles is to reach the Top 100 and acquire the mode’s very best rewards. But doing so isn’t always a realistic task, whether it’s due to tough difficulty levels, unlucky losses or simply a lack of time.
Instead, a more realistic aim is to push for an Elite ranking on a weekly basis. You can earn fantastic rewards for finishing anywhere from Elite 3 to Elite 1, and getting there isn’t all that difficult when playing at a World Class or Legendary level. If you grind enough, you can achieve the ranking on lower difficulty levels, too.
