FIFA 17 Ultimate Team: FUT Team of the Year Date, Player and Stat Predictions

FIFA 17 Ultimate Team fans are waiting with bated breath to see which players will take their spots in the latest Team of the Year, with a new set of super-charged cards ready to be released at the Best FIFA football awards on Monday.

Following FIFA's split from the Ballon d'Or, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann will discover if they've been elected to the 2016 FIFPro World XI in Zurich, and with that comes Team of the Year goodies.

FUT 17's Team of the Year will be based on the FIFPro World XI, and although reports surfaced claiming the lineup had been leaked, per The Sun's Dream Team FC, FIFPro has denied such suggestions:

We take a look into who we might see line up in this year's XI, complete with stat predictions and a breakdown of the biggest players likely to be present.

Position	Player	Club	Country	Rating Pred.
GK	Manuel Neuer	Bayern Munich	Germany	92 > 96
LB	Marcelo	Real Madrid	Brazil	86 > 87 > 92
CB	Sergio Ramos	Real Madrid	Spain	89 > 90 > 93
CB	Jerome Boateng	Bayern Munich	Germany	90 > 93
RB	Dani Alves	Barcelona	Brazil	85 > 86 > 91
CM	Luka Modric	Real Madrid	Croatia	89 > 90 > 95
CM	Andres Iniesta	Barcelona	Spain	88 > 94
CM	Toni Kroos	Real Madrid	Germany	88 > 93
LW	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid	Portugal	94 > 95 > 96 > 99
ST	Antoine Griezmann	Atletico Madrid	France	88 > 89 > 95
RW	Lionel Messi	Barcelona	Argentina	93 > 94 > 98

Here's a look at how that star-studded side would line up, per Bleacher Report UK:

All FIFA 17 statistics come courtesy of FUTHead.com, with predictions created by the author. 

Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid

If any player is a shoo-in for FUT's Team of the Year, 2016 Ballon d'Or-winner Ronaldo is perhaps the easiest case as he eyes yet more individual and team accolades in Zurich on Monday.

The Real Madrid and Portugal talisman cleaned up in the competition stakes throughout 2016, winning the UEFA Euro 2016 and UEFA Champions League as Squawka highlighted his prolific year in action:

Many might have argued it was Messi who in fact deserved to win the Ballon d'Or, but Real Madrid TV presenter Phil Kitromilides recently argued Ronaldo's record against typically stubborn Sevilla divides the pair:

It would be a shock if Ronaldo didn't line up on the left wing of this year's Team of the Year with a card verging close to the 100 mark, considering his FIFA 16 TOTY card was rated a monstrous 98, per FUTHead.com.

It was also of little surprise to see Ronaldo garner a number of votes for Team of the Year from his fellow peers, including ex-Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney and current Red Devils star Anthony Martial:

Any player building a La Liga lineup will want to have this card as the jewel in their crown, although it would be worth taking a chemistry hit to slot him in regardless of what team you're building.

Luka Modric, Real Madrid

TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/Getty Images

This year saw the very best of Luka Modric rise to the fore as the Real Madrid general established himself as one of Europe's classiest playmakers alongside team-mate Toni Kroos.

Kroos himself may be vying for a place in the Team of the Year, and Jason Pettigrove of Spanish newspaper Marca recently described his incredulity to not have seen the Real pair higher in the Ballon d'Or voting:

When fully fit, Modric ran the Los Blancos midfield with ease at times and supplied the likes of Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale with steady ammunition that made him a favourite of FIFA YouTuber ChuBoi:

After being awarded an overall rating of 93 in last year's TOTY lineup—complete with 95 dribbling and 91 passing—it wouldn't be a surprise to see Modric improve on those numbers once more come next week.

It's important to remember these cards will only be available for a very limited period.

Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid

David Ramos/Getty Images

With Ronaldo and Messi likely to be certain nominees for FUT's Team of the Year, it looks likely to be a race between Luis Suarez, 2016 TOTY entrant Neymar and Antoine Griezmann for the third and final berth in attack.

And after making his way to the Champions League and Euro 2016 finals with Atletico Madrid and France, respectively, it's Griezmann who gets our nod to book a place in the end-of-year XI.

Neymar might have taken his spot in FIFA 2016's Team of the Year, but the Brazilian hasn't looked as productive this time around, and FIFA YouTuber Bateson87 doesn't rate his 2016 displays over those of Griezmann:

If the Frenchman was ever going to feature alongside the likes of Ronaldo and Messi in attack, one gets the sense this has to be the year in which he does it.

Griezmann has already been awarded an 89-rated Team of the Group Stage (Champions League) card that came with 87 pace, 89 dribbling and 88 shooting, but any TOTY edition promises even greater numbers.