Highlights
- Not every team in FIFA 23 needs a traditional striker, as some prefer a deep-lying forward who excels at passing and ball control.
- Roberto Firmino, Tammy Abraham, and Memphis Depay are some of the best deep-lying forwards in the game, known for their ability to find and assist their teammates.
- Players like Gabriel Jesus, Karim Benzema, and Harry Kane can also thrive as deep-lying forwards due to their exceptional passing, dribbling, and overall gameplay skills.
Football is a broad and complicated sport. Players must fill many different positions to field a complete football team. Just like there are different positions across the pitch, there are also different roles for each position that only certain players can fulfill.
For example, look at the striker position. Not every team needs an out-and-out striker who stays up top and waits to score goals. Some teams prefer a deep-lying forward who comes deep into midfield to get the ball and then advance it for the wide players who can overlap and provide the goal-scoring threat. There are several deep-lying forwards in FIFA 23; these are the very best of them.
9 Roberto Firmino
Roberto Firmino is a talented Brazilian center forward who plays club football for Liverpool FC in the Premier League as of the start of FIFA 23 career mode. He is 30 at the beginning of career mode with an overall rating of 83.
Firmino is an out-and-out deep-lying forward who does his best work when he is partnered with two pacey wingers that he can find with accurate long passes as they beat the opposition back line with overlapping runs. He does this well by keeping hold of the ball with his impressive dribbling and ball control stats and waiting for the right moment to thread a pass to his pacey partners upfront.
8 Tammy Abraham
Tammy Abraham is a young English striker who plays club football for AS Roma in the Serie A division of Italian football. He is an impressive athlete with a height of 6’5 and would primarily fit the role of a target man striker. Still, he is also an imposing, deep-lying forward.
Abraham starts career mode at 25 with an overall rating of 81 and a potential of 85 overall. Tammy is not the best passer or dribbler of the ball, and his credentials for being a deep-lying forward are not conventional. He is not the fastest player, but he has impressive physical stats, which help in ball retention and give him time to pick out a pass for his overlapping teammates moving into threatening positions. He is better as a target man but is also one of the best deep-lying forwards in FIFA 23.
7 Memphis Depay
Memphis Depay is a talented and versatile Dutch forward who plays for Spanish giants Barcelona in La Liga. He is incredibly gifted and can play almost any offensive position or role.
At the start of career mode, Depay is in his prime at 28 years of age with an overall rating of 85. Depay has impressive passing, dribbling, and pace stats, making him a great deep-lying forward and a solid option as an inverted winger.
6 Paulo Dybala
Paulo Dybala is a gifted Argentine forward who plays club football for AS Roma in the Italian top-flight league. He is a brilliant player in his prime and one of the best players in his position.
At the start of FIFA 23 career mode, Dybala is a 28-year-old center forward/central attacking midfielder with an 86 overall rating. His incredible passing and dribbling stats easily make him one of the best deep-lying forwards in the game.
5 Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Jesus is a young Brazilian talent who plays club football for Arsenal in the Premier League. He is incredibly versatile and a solid player for any team to have on the books.
Jesus starts career mode as a 25-year-old center forward/winger with an overall rating of 84 and a potential rating of 86, which he can easily surpass with the help of great development plans and dynamic potential.
Jesus has all the makings of a great deep-lying forward with his passing and dribbling stats. However, he has something else that makes him one of the best. His high defensive and offensive work rate allows him to serve as an extra midfielder upfront, capable of winning the ball from the opposition in a high-press scenario and sparking a sudden attack.
4 Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema is a gifted forward from France who many believe to be one of the best strikers in the world. In FIFA 23 career mode, he plays club football for the Spanish giants Real Madrid.
At the start of career mode, Karim Benzema is rated 91 overall and is 34 years old. Benzema is a brilliant striker, and his goal-scoring ability is represented very well in his shooting and finishing stats. However, his passing and dribbling stats make him a great option as a deep-lying forward.
3 Antoine Griezmann
Antoine is a highly gifted, versatile French forward who plays for Atletico Madrid on loan from Barcelona in the top flight of Spanish club football in FIFA 23 career mode. At the start of career mode, he is 31 with an overall rating of 86.
Griezman can play several forward positions and can even be fielded as a winger, but his stats best suit a deep-lying forward. His dribbling and passing stats make him a nightmare for opponents who want to steal the ball from him. He can easily draw all the attention to himself. At the same time, his teammates position themselves to receive passes from him to create goal-scoring opportunities.
2 Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi needs no introduction. He is one of the greatest players in football history, and at the start of FIFA 23 career mode, he plays for PSG in France and the Argentine National Team.
Messi has a 91 overall rating, the joint-highest rating in the game. He can be fielded in several positions, including deep-lying forward, where his ball control, vision, passing, and dribbling stats all help him excel at this role.
1 Harry Kane
Harry Kane is the poster boy of English football and an elite striker who plays for Tottenham in the Premier League as of the start of FIFA 23 career mode.
He is an incredibly gifted footballer in his prime at 28, with an overall rating of 89. He could easily play several roles in the striker position. His impressive stats in passing, dribbling, and even his physicality make him the best deep-lying forward in FIFA 23.