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Operation Sports
Operation Sports
Robert Preston

EA FC 26 Team Of The Week 3 Predictions

Another weekend of action is in the books from all around the soccer-slash-football world, and that means players of Ultimate Team in EA FC 26 are looking forward to who might feature on the Team of the Week. With TotW versions of players a prized commodity, it’s fun to look back to look ahead by trying to use the weekend’s games to pick out the players most likely to see their cards on the list this week.

Here are five standout performances we think will earn the honor for the players who delivered them:

Gift Monday (ST – Washington)

If you score a hat trick in a major league, you have to at least like your chances of being in consideration for a spot on the Team of the Week (and, yes, this does apply to fellow hat trick hero Julian Alvarez). Things are getting sticky in the NWSL, where, with just five matches left to play, a dogpile of teams are scrapping it out with third through eighth separated by just three points entering the weekend’s matches. Monday and Washington sat just clear of the danger and faced a deceptively tricky tie with Houston, just 9th in the league but the only team outside of runaway leaders Kansas City that had won at least half their matches since the season’s midpoint eight matches prior.

Monday let Washington breathe easy and lock in that No. 2 seed, sealing the match before halftime. What stood out most was the variety in her hat trick. First, she linked with Trinity Rodman on a counter, slicing through the defense and finishing from a tight angle. Next, she rose for a header off a free kick, reacted quickest to her own rebound, and slotted it home. Finally, she capped it off with classic poacher’s work in the six-yard box, burying a low cross at the near post.

Lionel Messi (CAM – Inter Miami)

Things have not been going swimmingly for Lionel Messi and his team of elder All-Stars in 2025. After 2024 saw Inter Miami prove to be utterly unstoppable all season en route to winning the Supporters’ Shield, only to be upset in the opening round of the playoffs, it was expected they would be back with a vengeance this season. Instead, they have been solid but unspectacular, sitting fourth in the Eastern Conference. Whether this proves to be learning and keeping more in the tank or the inevitable decline of a team built on older talent is yet to be seen, but Messi showed he still is capable of stealing matches all on his own against New York City FC.

While the battle of table neighbors was close late, Messi saw to putting any doubts to bed in the game’s final 15 minutes. Over the last quarter hour and change Messit scored twice to go with an earlier assist, with the two feeds coming sandwiched around a Luis Suarez penalty. Suddenly a tight match was a 4-0 cakewalk that secured not just three points, but a healthy goal difference swing between the two. It’s never a bad time to include perhaps the most popular player in history in the Team of the Week with a good performance, but it’s even better when it’s one this strong.

Georgia Stanway (CDM – Bayern Munich)

There’s nothing that seems to call to the heart of someone picking a standout team as much as a defensive player who had a big day offensively, and as the engine of a Bayern Munich domination of Freiburg, that makes Stanway an excellent candidate. With both Bayern and Wolfsburg having taken early-season draws, every match is crucial for securing three points, and it was Stanway providing the necessary passes that put points in the bank.

She first saw Bayern finally extend their 16th-minute lead to 2-0 in the 63rd minute, as she played the backside of a corner routine and found Lena Oberdorf with a ball returned from the other side. It was then a pair of balls to run onto, first for Lea Schüller to the top of the box in the 80th, then Klara Bühl into it in the 90th to give Bayern the comfortable 4-0 final scoreline.

Marc Guehi (CB – Crystal Palace)

Marc Guehi’s inevitable transfer to Liverpool that wasn’t as inevitable as it seemed was one of the transfer sagas of the summer, and with Guehi ultimately left to stay put at Palace, this early-season scrap with Liverpool was always going to bring in attention. That it also represented the Premier League’s final two undefeated teams only ramped up the anticipation as the holders looked to continue their perfect start against a team led by the one that got away.

Unfortunately for Liverpool, Guehi proved to be a critical component in ending their unblemished opening. After Palace opened the scoring early, Guehi was the centerpiece of a Palace defense that nearly held out to the death and escaped with a 1-0 victory, only for a goal from Federico Chiesa, which appeared to break Palace hearts in the 87th minute. Guehi wasn’t having it, however, and it was a ball off his foot that found Eddie Nketiah in the 97th minute to stun Liverpool with the winning goal. A contribution oozing with the kind of narrative appeal that could see Guehi make the squad.

Gabriel (CB – Arsenal)

Playing alongside William Saliba, there have been times early in Arsenal’s resurgence when Gabriel could get a bit lost in all the praise of the extremely praiseworthy Frenchman. Now, however, it’s not even a hot take to claim that the top center back pairing in the league doesn’t have a clear top dog, and the latest chance to do so for Gabriel has come about as a result of an early-season injury for Saliba during a brutal run of opening fixtures, which they have navigated with a league-best defensive record.

The latest of those fixtures saw Arsenal tangling with their third Champions League opponent of the young season, and midway through, it looked like it may be a forgettable day for the big Brazilian as he was unable to prevent Newcastle’s goal against the run of play. Outside of that rough play, however, Gabriel anchored a defense that largely prevented Newcastle from generating a threat throughout the match. To cement his claim for acclaim, Gabriel knocked in a header of his own in the 96th minute to complete Arsenal’s cardiac comeback and move the Gunners to within two of Liverpool after each side’s respective late goal games.

Those are our predictions for this week’s Team of the Week, but do you agree, or are there other outstanding showings you think deserve recognition with a spot on the Team?

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