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Football

04th Aug 2018

FIFA 19 attempts to settle Steven Gerrard vs Frank Lampard debate

It's the age old debate, which doesn't look like ending as both ex-players begin their managerial careers

Reuben Pinder

It’s the age old debate

Gerrard or Lampard? Lampard or Gerrard? It is the footballing debate that dominated a decade and was never truly settled.

As Liverpool and Chelsea repeatedly met in the latter stages of Europe and competed for domestic trophies, their talismanic midfielders naturally became the centre of the discussion. Both brilliant, but different midfielders, there was never a consensus on who was the superior footballer.

But EA Sports have tried to fix that on the next instalment of the FIFA video game series, which will be released this autumn. On FIFA 19, the legendary ex-players will have legends cards on Ultimate Team that reflect the players’ abilities at the peak of their careers. Going by their ratings, Steven Gerrard was the better player, just.

He has been given an overall rating of 91, while Lampard received just 90. Gerrard’s pace, dribbling, defending, passing and physicality are all slightly better than Lampard’s according to these ratings. It’s a shame for Lampard that there isn’t a trait on the card named ‘well-timed runs into the box’ or ‘penalties smashed to the ‘keeper’s right’ – he would surely be given 100 for both of those.

Liverpool fans will be pleased to see that their most iconic player of all time has been given the higher rating, but it should be acknowledged that there is only a minimal difference between the two players.

But that won’t stop them from lauding it over Chelsea fans as a victory. There is no love lost between these two fanbases and they will take every opportunity to get one over each other.