Playing against elite players and watching professional players and seeing how they defend so perfectly brings up one single question for me: What do they do other than what normal players do in their defense to be able to concede fewer goals?

Today, we are revealing you three expert mechanics that you can use in your defense to become a wall and concede fewer goals like them, especially the last tip is really mind-blowing and you won’t believe that it works.

1. Baiting A Challenge

Baiting a challenge is a really effective concept in the defensive part of the game. Let me explain how it works.

You make sure you shove your opponent the defensive move. You need to force him to believe that you’re committing towards a side defensively and make him think that passing or moving towards the other option makes much more sense.

However, this is where the fun begins. After initiating the first defensive move, you quickly switch over to your other player and cover the other chance that the opponent has.

For this concept to work, you need two things. First you need to analyze the opponent’s chances, picturize it in your mind, and make a move towards one of them. And the second part, you need to know which player to switch to and you need to do it fast. That is why practicing the right stick switching could be really helpful.

Here is how I execute it. As the opponent is receiving the ball on the side, I know that he has two opportunities. Either he controls the ball or passes it towards his teammate, knowing that I want to make him believe that I will put pressure on his Dribbler by rushing Adam.

In the meantime, I use the second man pressure to keep the other Defender where I actually want him. So, as I approach him, I feel like I’m at a good distance from switching to my other player. Because the Dribbler touches the ball for the first time and should have already made his decision while observing my Defender’s run. He doesn’t pay attention to my fast switch and passes the ball exactly what I want.

This is how I bait my opponents with my fake challenge. This method becomes too powerful if you can get used to it.

2. Instant Hard Tackles

We all know how satisfying it is to get a successful standing tackle and while defending. But sometimes, if we can’t time it well or if we are too far away from the Attacker, it won’t be enough and we can get penalized for that. What if I told you that there is an overpowered tackling mechanic, which could be more effective in certain situations? We call them the Instant Hard Tackles.

The main difference to the normal standing tackle is that your player stretches his body to be able to get himself to the ball. It might require a bit more commitment. But trust me, therefore it has been rewarding.

To be able to perform an instant hard tackle, you need to hold on to the R1& RB button while tackling. Of course, you need to point out the direction with your left analog stick before executing this tackle. I mostly use these tackles whenever I need a tackle a bit further than the normal range of the standing tackle when my opponent has the advantage in terms of distance.

Let’s see an example. My opponent receives the ball in the wing and he’s about to play the ball forward, either with a pass or dribbling. I am not close to get a normal standing tackle. And if I slide in, I might end up losing the control and you can get past me easily. So, I decide that I will go for an instant hard tackle.

The Bostonsatka stretches his body in front of his opponent, gets his left foot to the ball and with the power, this tackle provides he retrieves the ball without losing his balance. That way, I can catch the opponent off guard and score an easy counter goal.

3. Goalkeeper Movement

Last but not least, we are coming to a very interesting technique that you have probably never realized. It is known that we can move the keeper by pressing down the right stick and giving it a direction. Most of the good players I'm going to watch your keeper movement in obvious situations and wait for you to move the keeper towards one side of the goal. If the attacker remains patient, this usually ends up with him scoring.

However, there's a really interesting trend among the pro players that creates a confusion on the Attacker, willing to keep her not towards the side not out of the goal but back towards the goal line. Why?

Also Read: FIFA 23: 3 Core Tips On 1V1 Defending

Once your opponent gets himself in behind the defensive line and gets a one versus one with the keeper, he will want to finish off the attack. And that's why he observes their keepers movement. If you bring out the keeper, he could chip the ball or if you push the keeper towards either one of the sides, he will shoot it towards the other one.

However, if you push your keeper back towards the goal line while covering both sides, he might get surprised, confused, and even give up on that shot. Believe me, this hundred percent toys with your opponent's mind.

Here is one example from the latest eChampions League finals. Hezers loses the ball around his own box and these kind of mistakes could be game changing, especially in a tournament like this. R9 (Ronaldo, a strong player you can get by using your FUT 23 Coins) gets the ball just in front of the box and has a clear chance to score if the keeper stays like this or comes out this will give the opponent the upper hand.

However, he pulls the goalkeeper back towards the line and Van Der Sar saves it magically. These three tips might be a bit more advanced than the tips we have provided so far. But they are going to bring your defense to another level.