Sometimes it can be hard picking a goalkeeper for your Ultimate Team squad, it gets even harder not knowing how well the goalkeeper performs in-game. So to make the choice easier, I am going to review my top 5 favourite goalkeepers in FIFA 13.

Before you continue reading, keep in mind that these are my top 5 goalkeepers in FIFA 13, based on how well they have performed in the squads I have used them in so far. Feel free to leave your input in the comments section below, or ask any questions and I’ll happily get back to you.

Height: 197cm | 6’5″

1. Guilherme

Club: Lokomotiv Moskva

Nation: Brazil

League: Russian League

Traits: Flair (Acrobatic Save Style), Long Thrower, Rushes Out Of Goal

Review: This probably comes as a surprise to you, but after having played 30 or more games with Guilherme in goal, I have no second thoughts placing him first on my top 5 best goalkeepers list. You’d never think that a goalkeeper worth around 1000 coins would perform this well, every single game.

Thanks to his height of 197cm (6’5″), Guilherme easily bosses the penalty-box and covers major parts of the goal to make it harder for the opponents to score, including the very overpowered first-post shots, which seem to rarely go in with him in goal.
Considering his height, you’d expect him to be very slow, but he has 68 speed – which is more than average for goalkeepers.

You will see Guilherme make multiple saves in a row very often, when you expect to concede, and it’s hard to actually say how many times this boss has saved my ass – he’s done it a lot!

 

Height: 185cm | 6’0″

2. Iker Casillas

Club: Real Madrid

Nation: Spain

League: Liga BBVA

Traits: Flair (Acrobatic Save Style), Leadership, Long Thrower (GK), Penalty Saving

Review: Next on the list is the world’s best goalkeeper in real life, Iker Casillas. In previous FIFA releases, Casillas has not been in my top 5 lists due to the fact that finesse shots used to be very overpowered and it was hard for him to read the ball when they were put in the corners of the goal. But now on FIFA 13, the finesse shot is not overpowered and it finally allows Casillas to show his real-life abilities on FIFA.

This man saves shots for fun and it often seems like he’s got glue on his gloves, as he easily catches the balls in his hands. Not only that, he always seems to be in the right place at the right time, not like some goalkeepers who really have to put an effort getting into their proper position.

The only negative thing I can mention about Casillas in FIFA 13 is that he can be a bit weak on corners, where tall players get to the ball before he does and header it in. What you could do to prevent this though is to hold Y (Xbox) or Triangle (PS3) to bring him out a bit and he should be able to grab the ball.

 

Height: 193cm | 6’3″

3. Manuel Neuer

Club: FC Bayern (Bayern Munich)

Nation: Germany

League: Bundesliga

Traits: Comes For Crosses, Long Thrower (GK), Pushes Up For Corners, Risk Taker, Rushes Out Of Goal

Review: Up next is Manuel Neuer, who got himself 1 in-form, 1 MOTM and 1 January upgrade card in FIFA 12. I used him in my Bundesliga squad a few weeks ago and I really liked him.

Thanks to the 91 kicking stat, Neuer can get the ball very high up the pitch for counter-attacks. It happened many times to me that he’d catch the ball, run forward and kick the ball up further than the half line, which would then be picked up by a striker who’d run and score. If you try Neuer out, you definitely have to try this!

Unlike Casillas, Neuer is very good at saving corners thanks to his height, but the negative thing I noticed about him is that he sometimes deflects the ball too often. Apart from that though, you’ll love Neuer in goal.

 

Height: 196cm | 6’5″

4. Joe Hart

Club: Manchester City

Nation: England

League: Premier League (BPL)

Traits: Flair (Acrobatic Save Style), Long Thrower, Rushes Out Of Goal

Review: Fourth on my list is the probably most overpowered player after David Luiz in FIFA 12, Joe Hart. He is not as overpowered on FIFA 13, but he is still a very very good goalkeeper.

Just like the other goalkeepers in this list, Hart is a very solid goalie. His type of play reminds me a lot of Manuel Neuer’s. He covers many parts of the goal and saves very important shots. Thanks to his height, he is also very good in the air. He jumps, he dives, he saves shots many times. But just like Neuer, Hart seems to deflect a lot of shots that you’d think he’d catch easily. But hey, he doesn’t concede a lot of goals, and that is why he is fourth on this list.

 

Height: 189cm | 6’2″

5. Sebastien Frey

Club: Genoa

Nation: France

League: Serie A

Traits: Flair (Acrobatic Save Style), Long Thrower (GK), Penalty Saving

Review: Last but not least is a non-rare (say what?) beast of a goalkeeper, Sebastien Frey. I decided to try him out at the very beginning of FIFA 13 Ultimate Team when I made a cheap French/Ligue 1 squad and could not afford Sirigu. Frey goes for around 600 coins, and it’s the best 600 coins you’ll ever use for a goalkeeper. This guy is absolutely amazing in goal.

Frey rarely concedes goals and got the Man Of The Match rating several times when I used him. The amount of times people messaged me raging about not being able to score despite having more shots on goal than me is crazy. It happened very often and I was surprised by how well Frey actually performed. One would never think that a goalkeeper worth 600 coins would be this good.

It often also happened that Frey made multiple saves in a row and he is crazily good at 1-vs-1 situations. Despite being “only” 189cm, he made himself look very big in goal and blocks/tackles the opponents to get the ball into his hands.

Worth a mention

  • Gianluigi Buffon - (Italy, Serie A, Juventus)
  • Hugo Lloris - (France, Barclays PL, Tottenham Hotspur)
  • Thibaut Courtois - (Belgium, Liga BBVA, Atletico Madrid)
  • Federico Marchetti - (Italy, Serie A, Lazio)
  • Petr Cech - (Czech Republic, Barclays PL, Chelsea)
  • Samir Handanovic - (Slovenia, Serie A, Inter)
  • Wojciech Szczesny - (Poland, Barclays PL, Arsenal)

So, what do you think? Who is your favourite goalkeeper in FIFA 13 and why? Do you agree with my top 5 list or do you have other favourites? Feel free to share any good information in the comments section below for others to see!