Player Review
88 - Headliners
My squad has a few reds, but mostly relatively cheap players (I get G3-2 in WL, Div 4), and I was looking to replace Immobile or try something new, and I only had 100k coins. Zapata has very attractive stats for my playstyle and he has singlehandedly won several WL games for me, despite the garbage patch that fucks up every shot. I slapped Hunter on him and can only recommend him as Immobile replacement, or to pair with an agile striker like Mertens in my case. I put him on ST (4-2-3-1).
It's great value for money if you need a Lukaku-style Serie A dude. He also links well with Cuadrado.
- Strength: 99 is amazing. He easily pushes away VVD and other bulky dudes. When you are about to cross to him, he makes his way to the right spot without getting stuck, unlike weaker strikers.
- Jumping & heading: cross it to him and it's a goal (use low-driven header!). For me, he performs better than FB Ibra during normal crosses. Also on corners he is quite a beast.
- Shooting: he doesn't have the clinical trait, but he shoots very well and has very high shot power.
- Pace: he isn't ultra fast, so you need to give him some time to get into position. However, his posture allows him to plow through defenders easily.
- Passing: it isn't great. He can do straight passes into open space, but nothing spectacular. On the other hand, he shouldn't pass a lot either.
- Dribbling: he is clumsy. Not terrible, but if you can't shield the ball, he will probably lose it if you don't pass quickly. But for a guy his size it's decent.
- Stamina: it's not terrible tbh, he can last a full game depending on your CTs. I even took him into ET a few times because his headers are winning many games. It's only a bit worse than Immobile whom I subbed out in H2.