Diego Costa, Virgil van Dijk Headline 1st Group of FIFA 19 Player Ratings

EA Sports released the first batch of ratings for FIFA 19 on Thursday, starting with the players ranked between 100 and 81 on the new title.

All of the players included in the 20-man list are rated at 85. Among them are Liverpool trio Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Alisson Becker. Atletico Madrid also have three players listed: Diego Costa, Filipe Luis and Koke.

Bayern Munich have three players in this bracket too in Joshua Kimmich, Arjen Robben and David Alaba.

EA Sports posted the following video on Twitter to kickstart its countdown of the 100 best players on the new game:

Here are the players that have been included in the first 20 named, per the EA Sports website.

FIFA 19 Ratings, 100-81

81. Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid)

82. Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)

83. Arturo Vidal (Barcelona)

84. Fabinho (Liverpool)

85. David Alaba (Bayern Munich)

86. Alisson Becker (Liverpool)

87. Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)

88. Vincent Kompany (Manchester City)

89. Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid)

90. Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund)

91. Koke (Atletico Madrid)

92. Edin Dzeko (Roma)

93. Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich)

94. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio)

95. Marco Asensio (Real Madrid)

96. Blaise Matuidi (Juventus)

97. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

98. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Los Angeles Galaxy)

99. Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)

100. Kostas Manolas (Roma)

Liverpool Stars Boosted in FIFA 19 Rankings

Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images

As a result of the progress made by Liverpool under manager Jurgen Klopp's guidance, it's no surprise to see some Reds stars get a lift in their ratings.

One of those is Van Dijk, who only arrived at Anfield in January. Since then, the Netherlands international has gone from strength to strength at the heart of Liverpool's defence, offering leadership and authority at the back.

His performances have prompted a two-point rating increase, from 83 to 85, putting him alongside Alisson and Fabinho, two new signings at Anfield this summer after impressive campaigns with Roma and Monaco, respectively.

The GCIIMessi Twitter account did pick up on something interesting regarding Van Dijk's speed statistics, though:

Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid appear as though they will continue to be a force on the new game, although Costa has been demoted one point despite his strong end to last season.

Meanwhile, Koke has maintained the 85 mark given to him following the winter update. Luis has not, though, with the Brazil international docked a point despite being central to Atletico's UEFA Europa League triumph and second-placed finish in La Liga.

In addition, new Barcelona midfield Arturo Vidal has been reduced from 87 to 85 overall, including a reduction in pace to 57; his speed was rated at 75 on the previous edition of the game.

YouTuber Bateson87 was shocked by the virtual Vidal's deterioration:

Two of the most significant demotions among the top players would appear to be for Robben and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Both veterans were rated at 88 on FIFA 18, meaning a number of their attributes have taken a big hit on the latest edition. Robben and Ibrahimovic have been major favourites on Ultimate Team in the past, although with these reductions, you sense they will be seen less frequently this year.